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PRESENTED  BY 

GENERAL  LIBRARY 

ERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

BERKELEY 

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me  Management  House 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

DAVIS 


AMERICA 


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Cathedral  Woods,  Intervale,  N.  H. 


EDITION  ARTISTIQVE 


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AMERICA 


BY 

JOEL  COOK 


3Tn  Sip  Volumes 
llolumc  l. 


MERRILL     AND     BAKER 

New  York  London 


L1BRAHV 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


THIS  EDITION  ARTISTIQUE  OF  THE  WORLD'S 
FAMOUS  PLACES  AND  PEOPLES  IS  LIMITED 
TO  ONE  THOUSAND  NUMBERED  AND  REGIS 
TERED  COPIES,  OF  WHICH  THIS  COPY  IS 
NO.- 


Copyright,  Henry  T.  Coates  &  Co.,  1900 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  American  is  naturally  proud  of  his  country, 
its  substantial  growth  and  wonderful  development, 
and  of  the  rapid  strides  it  is  making  among  the  fore 
most  nations  of  the  world.  No  matter  how  far  else 
where  the  American  citizen  may  have  travelled,  he 
cannot  know  too  much  of  the  United  States,  its  grand 
attractions  and  charming  environment.  Though  this 
great  and  vigorous  nation  is  young,  yet  it  has  a  his 
tory  that  is  full  of  interest,  and  a  literature  giving  a 
most  absorbing  story  of  rapid  growth  and  patriotic 
progress,  replete  with  romance,  poetry  and  a  unique 
folklore. 

The  object  of  this  work  is  to  give  the  busy  reader 
in  acceptable  form  such  a  comprehensive  knowl 
edge  as  he  would  like  to  have,  of  the  geography, 
history,  picturesque  attractions,  peculiarities,  pro 
ductions  and  most  salient  features  of  our  great 
country.  The  intention  has  been  to  make  the  book 
not  only  a  work  of  reference,  but  a  work  of  art 
and  of  interest  as  well,  and  it  is  burdened  neither 
with  too  much  statistics  nor  too  intricate  prolixity 
of  description.  It  covers  the  Continent  of  North 

(  iii  ) 


iv  INTRODUCTION. 

America,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  from 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  Canadian  Dominion  and 
Alaska.  It  has  been  prepared  mainly  from  notes 
specially  taken  by  the  author  during  many  years  of 
extended  travel  all  over  the  United  States  and 
Canada.  A  method  of  treatment  of  the  compre 
hensive  subject  has  been  followed  which  is  similar  to 
the  plan  that  has  proved  acceptable  in  "England, 
Picturesque  and  Descriptive."  The  work  has  been 
arranged  in  twenty-one  tours,  each  volume  begin 
ning  at  the  older  settlements  upon  the  Atlantic  sea 
board  5  and  each  tour  describing  a  route  following 
very  much  the  lines  upon  which  a  travelling  sight 
seer  generally  advances  in  the  respective  directions 
taken.  The  book  is  presented  to  the  public  as  a 
contribution  to  a  general  knowledge  of  our  country, 
and  with  the  hope  that  the  reader,  recognizing  the 
difficulties  of  adequate  treatment  of  so  great  a  sub 
ject,  may  find  in  the  interest  it  inspires,  an  indulgent 
excuse  for  any  shortcomings. 

J.  C. 

PHILADELPHIA,  September,  1900. 


CONTENTS 

VOLUME  I 


PAGE 

I.  THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  CHESAPEAKE  BAT,          .  3 

II.  THE  GREAT  THEATRE  OF  THE  CIVIL  WAB,        .  99 

III.  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  DELAWARE,       .        .        .  143 

IV.  CROSSING  THE  ALLEGHENIES,       ....  275 
V.  VISITING  THE  SUNNY  SOUTH,       ....  343 

VI.  TRAVERSING  THE  PRAIRIE  LAND,        .        .        .  401 

VII.  GLIMPSES  OF  THE  GREAT  NORTHWEST,       .        .  447 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

VOLUME  I 


PAGE 

IN  THE  CONGRESSIONAL  LIBRARY,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.  24 
NATURAL  BRIDGE,  VIRGINIA  .  .  .  .  54 

WASHINGTON  MONUMENT,  RICHMOND,  VA.  .  112 

PENN'S  LETITIA  STREET  HOUSE,  REMOVED  TO 

FAIRMOUNT  PARK  .  .  .  .152 

LOOP  OF  THE  SCHUYLKIU,  FROM  NEVERSINK 

MOUNTAINS  .  .  .  .  .  188 

MAUCH  CHUNK  .  .  .  ;  .  .  234 

A. 


THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  CHESAPEAKE 
BAY. 


AMERICA, 
PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 


I. 

THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  CHESAPEAKE  BAY. 

The  First  Permanent  Settlement  in  North  America — Captain 
John  Smith — Jamestown — Chesapeake  Bay — The  City  of 
Washington— The  Capitol— The  White  House— Elaborate 
Public  Buildings— The  Treasury— The  State,  War  and  Navy 
Departments — The  Congressional  Library — The  Smithsonian 
Institution — Prof.  Joseph  Henry — The  Soldiers'  Home — Agri 
cultural  Department — Washington  Monument — City  of  Mag 
nificent  Distances — Potomac  Kiver — Allegheny  Mountains — 
The  Kittatinny  Kange — Harper's  Ferry — John  Brown — The 
Great  Falls  —  Alexandria — Mount  Vernon  —  Washington's 
Home  and  Tomb — Washington  Belies — Key  of  the  Bastille — 
Kappahannock  Kiver  —  Fredericksburg  —  Mary  Ball,  the 
Mother  of  Washington — York  Kiver— The  Peninsula — Wil- 
liamsburg — Yorktown — Cornwallis'  Surrender — James  Kiver 
— The  Natural  Bridge  —  Lynchburg  —  Appomattox  Court- 
House — Lee's  Surrender — Powhatan — Dutch  Gap — Varina — 
Pocahontas — Her  Wedding  to  Kolfe— Her  Descendants,  the 
"First  Families  of  Virginia" — Deep  Bottom — Malvern  Hill 
— General  McClellan's  Seven  Days'  Battles  and  Ketreat — 
Bermuda  Hundred — General  Butler — Shirley — Appomattox 
Kiver  —  Petersburg  —  General  Grant' s  Headquarters  —  City 
Point — Harrison' s  Landing — Berkeley — Westover — William 
Byrd — Chickahominy  Kiver — Jamestown  Island — Gold  Hunt 
ing — The  Northwest  Passage — First  Corn-Planting— Indian 
Habits — First  House  of  Burgesses — Tobacco-Growing — Vir 
ginia  Planters — Importing  Negro  Slaves — Newport  News — 

(3) 


4     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

Merrimac  and  Monitor  Contest — Hampton  Beads — Hampton 
— Old  Point  Comfort — Fortress  Monroe — Fort  Algernon — 
Fort  Wool— Elizabeth  Eiver— Norfolk— Portsmouth— Great 
Dismal  Swamp — The  Eastern  Shore — The  Oyster  Navy — 
William  Claiborne — Kent  Island — Lord  Baltimore — The 
Maryland  Palatinate — Leonard  Calvert's  Expedition — St. 
Mary's — Patuxent  Eiver — St.  Inigoe's — Severn  Eiver — An 
napolis — United  States  Naval  Academy— Patapsco  Eiver — 
Baltimore — Jones's  Falls — Washington  Monument — Battle 
Monument — Johns  Hopkins  and  his  Benefactions — Baltimore 
and  Ohio  Eailroad — Druid  Hill — Greenmount  Cemetery — 
Fort  McHenry — The  Star-Spangled  Banner. 

CAPTAIN  JOHN   SMITH. 

WHEN  Captain  Christopher  Newport's  expedition 
of  three  little  ships  and  one  hundred  and  five  men, 
sent  out  by  the  "Virginia  Company"  to  colonize 
America,  after  four  months'  buffeting  by  the  rough 
winter  storms  of  the  North  Atlantic,  sought  a  harbor 
of  refuge  in  May,  1607,  they  sailed  into  Chesapeake 
Bay.  These  three  little  ships  were  the  "  Susan  Con 
stant,"  the  "Good  Speed"  and  the  "Discovery  ;"  and 
upon  them  came  Captain  John  Smith,  the  renowned 
adventurer,  who,  with  Newport,  founded  the  first  per 
manent  settlement  in  North  America,  the  colony  of 
Jamestown.  The  king  who  chartered  the  "  Virginia 
Company  "  was  James  I.,  and  hence  the  name.  As 
the  fleet  sailed  into  the  "  fair  bay,"  as  Smith  called 
it,  the  headlands  on  either  side  of  the  entrance  were 
named  Cape  Charles  and  Cape  Henry,  for  the  king's 
two  sons.  Their  first  anchorage  was  in  a  roadstead 
of  such  attractive  character  that  they  named  the  ad- 


CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  5 

jacent  land  Point  Comfort,  which  it  retains  to  this 
dayj  and  farther  inland,  where  Captain  Newport 
afterwards  came,  in  hopes  of  getting  news  from 
home,  is  now  the  busy  port  and  town  of  Newport 
News.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  in  the  previous  century, 
had  sent  out  his  ill-starred  expedition  to  Roanoke, 
which  had  first  entered  this  great  bay  ;  and  at  the 
Elizabeth  River,  which  they  had  named  in  honor  of 
Raleigh's  queen,  they  found  the  Indian  village  of 
Chesapik,  meaning  "the  mother  of  waters  ;"  and 
from  this  came  the  name  of  Chesapeake  Bay.  Ra 
leigh  had  landed  colonists  here,  as  well  as  at  Roanoke, 
and  when  the  "  Virginia  Company  "  sent  out  New 
port's  expedition  it  laid  three  commands  upon  those 
in  charge :  First,  they  were  to  seek  Raleigh's  lost 
colonists  ;  second,  they  were  to  find  gold  j  and  third, 
they  were  to  search  for  the  "northwest  passage" 
through  America  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  So  strong 
was  the  belief  in  finding  gold  in  the  New  World  that 
the  only  consideration  King  James  asked  for  his 
charter  was  the  stipulation  that  the  "  Virginia  Com 
pany  "  should  pay  him  one-fifth  of  the  gold  and  silver 
found  in  its  possessions. 

As  none  of  Raleigh's  colonists  could  be  found,  the 
expedition  sailed  up  the  James  River  after  consider 
able  delay,  and,  selecting  a  better  place  for  a  settle 
ment,  landed  at  Jamestown  May  13,  1607,  where 
Smith  became  their  acknowledged  leader,  and  pre 
served  the  permanency  of  the  colony.  This  famous 


6     AMEEICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

navigator  and  colonist  was  a  native  of  Willoughby,  in 
Lincolnshire,  England,  born  in  January,  1579.  When 
scarcely  more  than  a  boy  he  fought  in  the  wars  of 
Holland,  and  then  he  wandered  through  Europe  and 
as  far  as  Egypt,  afterwards  returning  to  engage  in 
the  conflict  against  the  Turks  in  Hungary.  Here  he 
won  great  renown,  fighting  many  desperate  combats, 
and  in  one  engagement  cutting  off  three  Turks'  heads  j 
but  he  was  finally  wounded  and  captured.  The  sober, 
investigating  historians  of  a  later  day  have  taken  the 
liberty  to  doubt  some  of  Smith's  wonderful  tales  of 
these  remarkable  adventures,  but  he  must  have  done 
something  heroic  to  season  him  for  the  hardy  work 
of  the  pioneer  who  was  the  first  to  succeed  in  plant 
ing  a  colony  in  North  America.  After  the  Turks 
made  him  a  prisoner,  he  was  sold  as  a  slave  in  Con 
stantinople,  being  condemned  to  the  hardest  and  most 
revolting  kinds  of  labor,  until  he  became  desperate 
under  the  cruelties  and  escaped.  Then  he  was  for  a 
long  time  a  wanderer  through  the  wilderness,  travers 
ing  the  forests  of  Russia,  and  pushing  his  way  alone 
across  Europe,  until,  almost  worn  out  with  fatigue 
and  hardships,  he  arrived  in  England  just  at  the  time 
Newport's  expedition  was  being  fitted  out  j  and  still 
having  an  irrepressible  love  for  adventure,  he  joined  it. 

CHESAPEAKE  BAY. 

There  can  be  no  better  place  for  beginning  a  sur 
vey  of  our  country  than  upon  this  great  bay,  which 


CHESAPEAKE  BAY.  7 

Smith  and  his  companions  entered  in  1607.  Chesa 
peake  Bay  is  the  largest  inland  sea  on  the  Atlantic 
Coast  of  the  United  States.  It  stretches  for  two 
hundred  miles  up  into  the  land,  between  the  low  and 
fertile  shores  of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  both  of 
which  States  it  divides,  and  thus  gives  them  valuable 
navigation  facilities.  In  its  many  arms  and  estu 
aries  are  the  resting-places  for  the  luscious  oysters 
which  its  people  send  all  over  the  world.  It  is  one 
of  the  greatest  of  food-producers,  having  a  larger 
variety  of  tempting  luxuries  for  the  palate  than  prob 
ably  any  other  region.  Along  its  shores  and  upon 
its  islands  are  numberless  popular  resorts  for  fishing 
and  shooting,  for  its  tender  and  amply-supplied 
water-foods  attract  the  ducks  and  other  wild  fowl  in 
countless  thousands,  and  bring  in  shoals  of  the  sea- 
fishes,  which  are  the  sportsmen's  coveted  game.  Its 
terrapin  are  famous,  while  its  shores  and  border 
lands,  particularly  on  the  eastern  side,  are  a  series 
of  orchards  and  market-gardens,  providing  limitless 
supplies  of  fruits,  berries  and  vegetables  for  the 
Northern  markets.  It  receives  in  its  generally  placid 
bosom  some  of  the  greatest  rivers  flowing  down  from 
the  Allegheny  Mountains.  The  broad  Susquehanna, 
coming  through  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  makes 
its  headwaters,  and  it  receives  the  Potomac,  divid 
ing  Maryland  from  Virginia,  and  the  James,  in 
Virginia,  both  of  them  wide  estuaries  with  an  enor 
mous  outflow ;  and  also  numerous  smaller  streams, 


8     AMEEICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

such  as  the  Rappahannock,  York,  Patuxent,  Patapsco, 
Choptank  and  Elizabeth  Rivers.  Extensive  lines  of 
profitable  commerce,  all  large  carriers  of  food-sup 
plies,  have  transport  over  this  great  bay  and  its 
many  arms  and  affluents.  Canals  connect  it  with 
other  interior  waters,  and  leading  railways  with  all 
parts  of  the  country,  while  there  are  several  noted 
cities  upon  its  shores  and  tributaries. 

THE   CITY   OF   WASHINGTON. 

The  most  famous  of  all  these  cities  of  the  Chesa 
peake  region  is  Washington,  upon  the  Potomac,  and 
we  will  therefore  begin  this  story  at  the  American 
National  Capital.  The  striking  thing  about  Wash 
ington  is  that,  unlike  other  capitals  of  great  nations, 
it  was  created  for  the  sole  purpose  of  a  seat  of  gov 
ernment,  apart  from  any  question  of  commercial 
rank  or  population.  It  has  neither  manufactures 
nor  commerce  to  speak  of.  After  the  adoption  of 
the  Federal  Constitution  there  was  a  protracted  con 
flict  in  Congress  over  the  claims  of  rival  localities  for 
the  seat  of  government,  and  this  developed  so  much 
jealousy  that  it  almost  disrupted  the  Union  at  its 
inception.  General  Washington,  then  the  President, 
used  his  strong  influence  and  wise  judgment  to  com 
promise  the  dispute,  and  it  was  finally  decided  that 
Philadelphia  should  remain  the  capital  for  ten  years, 
while  after  the  year  1800  it  should  be  located  on  the 
Potomac  River,  on  a  site  selected  by  Washington, 


THE  CITY  OF  WASHINGTON.  9 

within  a  district  of  one  hundred  square  miles,  ceded 
by  Maryland  and  Virginia,  and  which,  to  avoid  any 
question  of  sovereignty  or  control,  should  be  under 
the  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  Congress.  The  location 
was  at  the  time  nearly  in  the  geographical  centre  of 
the  then  thirteen  original  States.  As  the  city  was 
designed  entirely  on  the  Maryland  side  of  the 
Potomac,  the  Virginia  portion  of  the  "  Federal  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia,"  as  it  was  called,  was  retroceded  in 
1826,  so  that  the  District  now  contains  about  sixty- 
five  square  miles.  The  capital  was  originally  called 
the  "  Federal  City,"  but  this  was  changed  by  law  in 
1791  to  the  "  City  of  Washington."  The  ground 
plan  of  the  place  was  ambitious,  and  laid  out  upon 
an  extensive  undulating  plateau  bordered  by  rolling 
hills  to  the  northward  and  westward,  and  sloping 
gently  towards  the  Potomac  River,  between  the 
main  stream  and  the  eastern  branch,  or  Anacostia 
River.  This  plan  has  been  well  described  as  "a 
wheel  laid  upon  a  gridiron,"  the  rectangular  arrange 
ment  of  the  ordinary  streets  having  superimposed 
upon  it  a  system  of  broad  radiating  avenues,  with 
the  Capitol  on  its  hill,  ninety  feet  high,  for  the 
centre.  The  Indians  called  the  place  Conococheague, 
or  the  "  roaring  water,"  from  a  rapid  brook  running 
through  it,  which  washed  the  base  of  the  Capitol 
Hill,  and  was  afterwards  very  properly  named  the 
Tiber,  but  has  since  degenerated  into  a  sewer.  A 
distinguished  French  engineer  of  the  time,  Major 


10     AMEKICA    PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

L'Enfant,  prepared  the  topographical  plan  of  the 
city,  under  the  direction  of  Washington  and  Jeffer 
son,  who  was  Secretary  of  State ;  and  Andrew  EUi- 
cott,  a  prominent  local  surveyor,  laid  it  out  upon  the 
ground.  The  basis  of  the  design  was  the  topography 
of  Versailles,  but  with  large  modifications  ;  and  thus 
was  laid  out  the  Capital  of  the  United  States,  which 
a  writer  in  the  London  Times,  some  years  ago,  called 
"the  city  of  Philadelphia  griddled  across  the  city  of 
Versailles." 

The  original  designers  planned  a  city  five  miles 
long  and  three  miles  broad,  and  confidently  expected 
that  a  vast  metropolis  would  soon  be  created,  though 
in  practice  only  a  comparatively  limited  portion  was 
built  upon,  and  this  is  not  where  they  intended  the 
chief  part  of  the  new  city  to  be.  Of  late  years, 
however,  the  newer  portions  have  been  rapidly  ex 
tending.  No  man's  name  was  used  for  any  of  the 
streets  or  avenues,  as  this  might  cause  jealousy,  so 
the  streets  were  numbered  or  lettered  and  the  ave 
nues  named  after  the  States.  The  corner-stone  of 
the  Capitol  was  laid  in  1793,  its  front  facing  east 
upon  the  elevated  plateau  of  the  hill,  and  the  town 
was  to  have  been  mainly  built  upon  this  plateau  in 
front  of  it.  Behind  the  Capitol,  on  its  western  side, 
the  brow  of  the  hill  descended  rather  sharply,  and 
here  they  laid  out  a  wide  and  open  Mall,  westward 
over  the  lower  ground  to  the  bank  of  the  Potomac 
River,  more  than  a  mile  away.  Off  towards  the 


THE  CITY  OF  WASHINGTON.  11 

northwest,  at  the  end  of  one  of  the  diagonal  ave 
nues,  they  placed  the  Executive  Mansion,  with  its 
extensive  park  and  gardens  stretching  southward  to 
the  river,  and  almost  joining  the  Mall  there  at  a  right 
angle.  The  design  was  to  have  the  city  in  an  ele 
vated  and  salubrious  location,  with  the  President 
secluded  in  a  comfortable  retreat  amid  ample  grounds, 
but  nearly  a  mile  and  a  half  distant  in  the  rural  re 
gion.  But  few  plans  eventuate  as  expected  j  and 
such  is  the  perversity  of  human  nature  that  the  peo 
ple,  when  they  came  to  the  new  settlement,  would 
not  build  the  town  on  Capitol  Hill  as  had  been 
intended,  but  persisted  in  settling  upon  the  lower 
ground  along  and  adjacent  to  the  broad  avenue  lead 
ing  from  the  Capitol  to  the  Executive  Mansion ;  and 
there,  and  for  a  long  distance  beyond  the  latter  to 
the  northward  and  westward,  is  the  city  of  Washing 
ton  of  to-day.  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  one  hundred 
and  sixty  feet  wide,  joining  these  two  widely-sepa 
rated  Government  establishments  and  extending  far 
to  the  northwest,  thus  became  the  chief  street  of  the 
modern  city.  To  Washington  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  was  removed,  as  directed  by  law,  in  1800,  the 
actual  removal  being  conducted  by  Tobias  Lear,  who 
had  been  President  Washington's  private  secretary, 
and  was  then  serving  in  similar  capacity  for  President 
John  Adams.  He  packed  the  whole  archives  and 
belongings  of  the  then  United  States  Government  at 
Philadelphia  in  twenty-eight  wooden  boxes,  loaded 


12     AMEEICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

them  on  a  sloop,  sailed  down  the  Delaware,  around 
to  the  Chesapeake,  and  up  the  Potomac  to  the  new 
capital,  and  took  possession.  The  original  Capitol 
and  Executive  Mansion  were  burnt  by  the  British 
during  their  invasion  in  1814,  when  Washington  had 
about  ten  thousand  population ;  it  now  contains  over 
three  hundred  thousand,  of  whom  fifty  thousand  are 
army  and  navy  officers  and  civil  servants  and  their 
families,  and  about  eighty  thousand  are  colored 
people. 

THE   CAPITOL. 

The  crowning  glory  of  Washington  is  the  Capitol, 
its  towering  dome,  surmounted  by  the  colossal  statue 
of  America,  being  the  prominent  landmark,  seen  from 
afar,  on  every  approach  to  the  city.  The  total  height 
to  the  top  of  the  statue  is  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  feet  above  the  Potomac  River  level.  The  grand 
position,  vast  architectural  mass  and  impressive  effect 
of  the  Capitol  from  almost  every  point  of  view  have 
secured  for  it  the  praise  of  the  best  artistic  judges  of 
all  countries  as  the  most  imposing  modern  edifice  in 
the  world.  From  the  high  elevation  of  the  Capitol 
dome  there  is  a  splendid  view  to  the  westward  over 
the  city  spread  upon  the  lower  ground  beyond  the 
base  of  Capitol  Hill.  Diagonally  to  the  southwest 
and  northwest  extend  two  grand  avenues  as  far  as 
eye  can  see — Maryland  Avenue  to  the  left  leading 
down  to  the  Potomac,  and  carrying  the  line  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  to  the  river,  where  it  crosses 


THE  CAPITOL.  13 

over  the  Long  Bridge  into  Virginia ;  and  Pennsylva 
nia  Avenue  to  the  right,  stretching  to  the  distant  col 
onnade  of  the  Treasury  Building  and  the  tree-covered 
park  south  of  the  Executive  Mansion.  Between 
these  diverging  avenues  and  extending  to  the  Poto 
mac,  more  than  a  mile  away,  is  the  Mall,  a  broad  en 
closure  of  lawns  and  gardens.  Upon  it  in  the  fore 
ground  is  the  Government  Botanical  Garden,  and 
behind  this  the  spacious  grounds  surrounding  the 
Smithsonian  Institution  ;  while  beyond,  near  the  river 
bank,  rises  the  tall  white  shaft  of  the  Washington 
Monument,  with  its  pointed  apex. 

On  either  side  spreads  out  the  city,  the  houses 
bordering  the  foliage-lined  streets,  and  having  at  fre 
quent  intervals  the  tall  spires  of  churches,  and  the 
massive  marble,  granite  and  brick  edifices  that  are 
used  for  Government  buildings.  In  front,  to  the  west, 
is  the  wide  channel  of  the  Potomac,  and  to  the  south 
and  southeast  the  Anacostia,  their  streams  uniting  at 
Greenleaf 's  Point,  where  the  Government  Arsenal  is 
located.  On  the  heights  beyond  the  point,  and  across 
the  Anacostia,  is  the  spacious  Government  Insane 
Asylum.  Far  away  on  the  Virginia  shore,  across  the 
Potomac,  rises  a  long  range  of  wooded  hills,  amid 
which  is  Arlington  Heights  and  its  pillared  edifice, 
which  was  the  home  of  George  Washington  Parke 
Custis,  the  grandson  of  Mrs.  Washington  and  General 
Washington's  adopted  son,  and  was  subsequently  the 
residence  of  General  Robert  E.  Lee,  who  married 


14     AMEEICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

Miss  Custis.  Spreading  broadly  over  the  forest-clad 
hills  is  the  Arlington  National  Cemetery,  where  fif 
teen  thousand  soldiers  of  the  Civil  War  are  buried. 
At  the  distant  horizon  to  the  left  rises  the  spire  of 
Fairfax  Seminary,  and  beyond,  down  the  Potomac,  is 
seen  the  city  of  Alexandria,  the  river  between  being 
dotted  with  vessels.  To  the  northwest,  behind  the 
Executive  Mansion,  is  the  spacious  building  of  the 
State,  War  and  Navy  Departments,  having  for  a 
background  the  picturesque  Georgetown  Heights, 
just  over  the  District  boundary,  their  tops  rising  four 
hundred  feet  above  the  river.  Farther  to  the  north 
ward  is  Seventh  Street  Hill,  crowned  with  the  build 
ings  of  Howard  University,  and  beyond  it  the  distant 
tower  of  the  Soldiers'  Home.  All  around  the  view 
is  magnificent ;  and  years  ago,  before  the  city  ex 
pected  to  attain  anything  like  its  present  grandeur, 
Baron  von  Humboldt,  as  he  stood  upon  the  western 
verge  of  Capitol  Hill  and  surveyed  this  gorgeous  pic 
ture,  exclaimed  :  "I  have  not  seen  a  more  charming 
panorama  in  all  my  travels." 

After  the  British  burnt  the  original  Capitol,  it  was 
rebuilt  and  finished  in  1827  ;  but  the  unexampled 
growth  of  the  country  and  of  Congress  soon  demanded 
an  extension,  which  was  begun  in  1851.  It  is  this 
extension  which  supplied  the  wings  and  dome,  de 
signed  and  constructed  by  the  late  Thomas  U.  Walter, 
that  has  made  the  building  so  attractive.  This  grand 
Republican  palace  of  government,  stretching  over 


THE  CAPITOL.  ^      15 

seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet  along  the  top  of  the  hill, 
has  cost  about  $16,000,000.  The  old  central  build 
ing  is  constructed  of  Virginia  freestone,  painted 
white,  the  massive  wings  are  of  white  marble  from 
Massachusetts,  and  the  lofty  dome  is  of  iron.  The 
dazzling  white  marble  gleams  in  the  sunlight,  and 
fitly  closes  the  view  along  the  great  avenues  radiat 
ing  from  it  as  a  common  centre.  The  architecture  is 
classic,  with  Corinthian  details,  and,  to  add  dignity 
to  the  western  front,  which  overlooks  the  city,  a 
magnificent  marble  terrace,  eight  hundred  and  eighty- 
four  feet  long,  has  been  constructed  at  its  base  on  the 
crest  of  the  hill,  which  is  approached  by  two  broad 
flights  of  steps. 

The  Capitol  is  surrounded  by  a  park  of  about 
fifty  acres,  including  the  western  declivity  of  the  hill 
and  part  of  the  plateau  on  top.  Upon  this  plateau, 
on  the  eastern  front,  the  populace  assemble  every 
fourth  year  to  witness  the  inauguration  of  the  Presi 
dent  when  he  is  sworn  into  office  by  the  Chief  Justice, 
and  delivers  his  inaugural  address  from  a  broad  plat 
form  at  the  head  of  the  elaborate  staircase  leading  up  to 
the  entrance  to  the  great  central  rotunda.  In  full  view 
of  the  President,  as  he  stands  under  the  grand  Corin 
thian  portico,  is  a  colossal  statue  of  Washington,  seated 
in  his  chair  of  state,  and  facing  the  new  President, 
as  if  in  solemn  warning.  The  rotunda  is  the  most 
striking  feature  of  the  Capitol  interior ;  it  is  nearly 
one  hundred  feet  in  diameter,  and  rises  one  hundred 


16     AMEEICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

and  eighty  feet  to  the  ceiling  of  the  dome,  which  is 
ornamented  with  fine  frescoes  by  Brumidi.  Large 
panelled  paintings  on  the  walls  just  above  the  floor, 
and  alti  rilievi  over  them,  represent  events  in  the 
early  history  of  the  country,  while  at  a  height  of  one 
hundred  feet  a  band  nine  feet  wide  runs  around  the 
interior  of  the  dome,  upon  which  a  series  of  frescoes 
tell  the  story  of  American  history  from  the  landing 
of  Columbus.  But,  most  appropriately,  the  elaborate 
decorations,  while  reproducing  so  much  in  Indian 
legend  and  Revolutionary  story,  are  not  used  in  any 
way  to  recall  the  Civil  War.  Away  up  in  the  top  of 
the  dome  there  is  a  Whispering  Gallery,  to  which  a 
stairway  laboriously  leads. 

The  old  halls  of  the  Senate  and  House  in  the  origi 
nal  wings  of  the  Capitol  are  now  devoted,  the  former 
to  the  Supreme  Court  and  the  latter  to  a  gallery  of 
statuary,  to  which  each  State  contributes  two  sub 
jects,  mostly  Revolutionary  or  Colonial  heroes.  Be 
yond,  on  either  hand,  are  the  extensive  new  wings — 
the  Senate  Chamber  to  the  north  and  the  Representa 
tives7  Hall  to  the  south.  Each  is  surrounded  by  cor 
ridors,  beyond  which  are  committee  rooms,  and  there 
are  spacious  galleries  for  the  public.  Each  member 
has  his  chair  and  desk,  the  seats  being  arranged  in 
semicircles  around  the  rostrum.  In  practice,  while 
the  House  is  in  session,  the  members  are  usually 
reading  or  writing,  excepting  the  few  who  may  watch 
what  is  going  on,  because  they  are  specially  inter- 


THE  CAPITOL  17 

ested  in  the  matter  under  consideration  j  and  the 
member  who  may  have  the  floor  and  is  speaking  is 
actually  heard  by  very  few,  his  speech  being  gener 
ally  made  for  the  galleries  and  the  official  stenog 
raphers  and  newspaper  reporters.  Debate  rarely 
reaches  a  point  of  interest  absorbing  the  actual  at 
tention  of  the  whole  House,  most  of  the  speech- 
making  seeming  to  be  delivered  for  effect  in  the 
member's  home  district,  this  method  being  usually 
described  as  "talking  for  Buncombe."  The  other 
members  read  their  newspapers,  write  their  letters, 
clap  their  hands  sharply  to  summon  the  nimble  pages 
who  run  about  the  hall  upon  their  errands,  gossip  in 
groups,  and  otherwise  pass  their  time,  move  in  and 
out  the  cloak-  and  committee-rooms,  and  in  various 
ways  manage  not  to  listen  to  much  that  goes  on. 
Nevertheless,  business  progresses  under  an  iron-clad 
code  of  procedure,  the  Speaker  being  a  despot  who 
largely  controls  legislation.  The  surroundings  of  the 
Senate  Chamber  are  grander  than  those  of  the  House, 
there  being  a  gorgeous  "Marble  Hall,"  in  which 
Senators  give  audience  to  their  visitors,  and  mag 
nificently  ornamented  apartments  for  the  Presi 
dent  and  Vice-President.  The  President's  Room 
is  only  occupied  during  a  few  hours  in  the  closing 
scenes  of  a  session,  this  small  but  splendid  apart 
ment,  which  has  had  $50,000  expended  upon  its 
decoration,  being  a  show  place  for  the  remainder  of 
the  year. 

VOL.  L— 2 


18     AMEEICA,  PICTUBESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 
THE  WHITE   HOUSE. 

The  most  famous  building  in  Washington,  though 
one  of  the  least  pretentious,  is  the  Executive  Man 
sion,  popularly  known  as  the  "  White  House/7  being 
constructed,  like  the  older  part  of  the  Capitol,  of 
freestone,  and  painted  white.  It  stands  within  a 
park  at  some  distance  back  from  the  street,  a  semi 
circular  driveway  leading  up  to  the  Ionic  colonnade 
supporting  the  front  central  portico.  It  is  a  plain 
building,  without  pretensions  in  anything  but  its 
august  occupancy,  and  the  ornamental  grounds 
stretch  down  to  the  Potomac  Eiver,  which  flows 
about  two  hundred  yards  below  its  southern  front. 
It  is  two  stories  high,  about  one  hundred  and  seventy 
feet  long,  and  eighty-six  feet  deep.  This  building, 
like  the  Capitol,  was  burnt  in  the  British  invasion  of 
1814  and  afterwards  restored.  Unlike  the  nation,  or 
the  enormous  public  buildings  that  surround  and 
dwarf  it,  the  White  House  has  in  no  sense  grown, 
but  remains  as  it  was  designed  in  the  lifetime  of 
Washington.  It  is  nevertheless  a  comfortable  man 
sion,  though  rigid  in  simplicity.  The  parlor  of  the 
house,  the  "  East  Room,"  is  the  finest  apartment,  oc 
cupying  the  whole  of  that  side,  and  is  kept  open  for 
visitors  during  most  of  the  day.  The  public  wander 
through  it  in  droves,  walk  upon  the  carpets  and  re 
cline  in  the  soft  chairs,  awaiting  the  President's 
coming  to  his  almost  daily  reception  and  handshak- 


THE  WHITE  HOUSE.  19 

ing ;  for  they  greatly  prize  this  joint  occupancy,  as 
it  were,  and  close  communion  with  their  highest 
ruler.  This  is  an  impressive  room,  and  in  earlier 
times  was  the  scene  of  various  inauguration  feasts, 
when  Presidents  kept  open  house  for  their  political 
friends  and  admirers. 

The  "East  Room"  was  a  famous  entertainment 
hall  in  President  Jackson's  time.  On  the  evening  of 
his  inauguration  day  it  was  open  to  all  comers,  who 
were  served  with  orange  punch  and  lemonade.  The 
crowds  were  large,  and  the  punch  was  mixed  in  bar 
rels,  being  brought  in  by  the  bucketful,  the  thirsty 
throngs  rushing  after  the  waiters,  and  in  the  turmoil 
upsetting  the  punch  and  ruining  dresses  and  carpets. 
The  punch  receptacles  were  finally  taken  out  into  the 
gardens,  and  in  this  way  the  boisterous  crowds  were 
drawn  off,  and  it  became  possible  to  serve  cake  and 
wine  to  the  ladies.  Various  traditions  are  still  told 
of  this  experience,  and  also  of  the  monster  cheese,  as 
big  as  a  hogshead,  that  was  served  to  the  multitude 
at  Jackson's  farewell  reception.  It  was  cut  up  with 
long  saw-blades,  and  each  guest  was  given  about  a 
pound  of  cheese,  this  feast  being  the  talk  of  the  time. 
Jackson's  successor  was  Martin  Van  Buren,  who 
came  from  New  York,  the  land  of  big  cheeses. 
Being  bound  to  emulate  his  predecessor,  an  even 
larger  cheese  was  sent  him,  and  cut  up  in  the  "  East 
Room."  The  crowds  trampled  the  greasy  crumbs 
into  the  carpets  and  hangings,  and  all  the  furniture 


20     AMERICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

and  fittings  were  ruined.  Now  no  guest  comes  un 
bidden  to  dine  at  the  White  House  j  but  the  change 
in  the  fashion  aided  in  defeating  Van  Buren,  who 
was  a  candidate  for  a  second  election  in  1840.  He 
stopped  keeping  open  house  in  order  to  save  the  fur 
niture  and  get  some  peace,  and  during  several  months 
preceding  the  election  many  persons  arrived  at  the 
White  House  for  breakfast  or  dinner  and  threatened 
to  vote  against  Van  Buren  unless  they  were  enter 
tained.  This,  with  the  fact  noised  abroad  that  he  had 
become  such  an  aristocrat  that  his  table  service  in 
cluded  gold  spoons,  then  an  unheard  of  extravagance, 
proved  too  much  for  him.  Van  Buren  was  beaten 
for  re-election  by  "  Old  Tippecanoe  " — General  Wil 
liam  Henry  Harrison. 

A  corridor  leads  westward  from  the  "  East  Room/' 
through  the  centre  of  the  White  House,  to  the  con 
servatories,  which  are  prolonged  nearly  two  hundred 
feet  farther  westward.  A  series  of  fine  apartments, 
called  the  Green,  Blue  and  Red  Rooms,  from  the 
predominant  colors  in  their  decorations,  are  south 
of  this  corridor,  with  their  windows  opening  upon 
the  gardens.  These  apartments  open  into  each 
other,  and  finally  into  the  State  Dining  Hall  on  the 
western  side  of  the  building,  which  is  adjoined  by  a 
conservatory.  North  of  the  corridor  the  first  floor 
contains  the  family  rooms,  and  on  the  second  floor 
are  the  sleeping-rooms  and  also  the  public  offices. 
The  Cabinet  Room,  about  in  the  centre  of  the  build- 


ELABOKATE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS.  21 

ing,  is  a  comparatively  small  apartment,  where  the 
Cabinet  meetings  assemble  around  a  long  table.  On 
one  side  of  it,  at  the  head  of  a  broad  staircase,  are 
the  offices  of  the  secretaries,  over  the  East  Room; 
and  on  the  other  side,  the  President's  private  apart 
ment,  which  is  called  the  Library.  Here  the  Presi 
dent  sits,  with  the  southern  sun  streaming  through 
the  windows,  to  give  audience  to  his  visitors,  who 
are  passed  in  by  the  secretaries.  One  of  the  desks, 
which  is  usually  the  President's  personal  work-table, 
has  a  history.  The  British  ship  "  Resolute,"  years  ago, 
after  many  hardships  in  the  fruitless  search  for  Sir 
John  Franklin,  had  to  be  abandoned  in  the  Arctic 
seas.  Portions  of  her  oaken  timbers  were  taken  back 
to  England,  and  from  these,  by  the  Queen's  command, 
the  desk  was  made  and  presented  to  President  Grant, 
and  it  has  since  been  part  of  the  furniture  in  the 
Library.  An  adjacent  chamber,  wherein  the  Prince 
of  Wales  slept  on  his  only  visit  to  America,  and  the 
chamber  adjoining,  are  the  two  sleeping-rooms  which 
have  been  usually  occupied  by  the  greatest  Presidents. 
The  accommodations  are  so  restricted,  however,  that  a 
movement  is  afoot  for  constructing  another  presiden 
tial  residence,  on  higher  land  in  the  suburbs,  so  that  the 
White  House  may  be  exclusively  used  for  the  execu 
tive  offices. 

ELABORATE   PUBLIC   BUILDINGS. 

The  great  public  buildings  used  for  Government 
purposes  are  among  the  chief  adornments  of  Wash- 


22     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

ington.  To  the  eastward  of  the  White  House  is  the 
Treasury  Building,  extending  over  five  hundred  feet 
along  Fifteenth  Street,  enriched  by  a  magnificent 
Ionic  colonnade,  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long, 
modelled  from  that  of  the  Athenian  Temple  of  Minerva. 
Each  end  has  an  elaborate  Ionic  portico,  while  the 
western  front,  facing  the  White  House,  has  a  grand 
central  entrance.  This  was  the  first  great  building 
constructed  for  a  Government  department,  and  is  the 
headquarters  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  Upon 
the  western  side  of  the  White  House  is  the  most 
splendid  of  all  the  department  buildings,  accommo 
dating  three  of  them,  the  State,  War  and  Navy  De 
partments.  It  is  Roman  Doric,  built  of  granite,  four 
stories  high,  with  Mansard  and  pavilion  roofs  and 
porticoes,  covering  a  surface  of  five  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  by  three  hundred  and  forty-two  feet. 
The  Salon  of  the  Ambassadors,  or  the  Diplomatic 
Reception  Room,  is  its  finest  apartment,  and  is  the 
audience  chamber  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  who  oc 
cupies  the  adjoining  Secretary's  Hall,  also  a  splendid 
room.  This  great  building  is  constructed  around  two 
large  interior  courts,  the  Army  occupying  the  north 
ern  and  western  wings,  and  the  Navy  the  eastern 
side,  where  among  the  great  attractions  are  the 
models  of  the  famous  warships  of  the  American  Navy. 
To  the  northward  of  the  White  House  park  and  fur 
nishing  a  fine  front  view  is  Lafayette  Square,  con 
taining  a  bronze  equestrian  statue  of  General  Jack- 


ELABOEATE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS.  23 

son  by  Clark  Mills ;  beyond,  on  the  western  side,  is 
the  attractive  Renaissance  building  of  the  Corcoran 
Art  Gallery,  amply  endowed  by  the  late  banker, 
William  W.  Corcoran,  and  containing  his  valuable 
art  collections,  which  were  given  to  the  public.  The 
foundation  of  his  fortune  was  laid  over  a  half-century 
ago,  when  he  had  the  pluck  to  take  a  Government 
loan  which  seemed  slow  of  sale.  His  modest  banking 
house  still  exists  as  the  Riggs  Bank,  facing  the 
Treasury. 

The  most  admired  of  the  newer  public  buildings  in 
Washington  is  the  Congressional  Library,  on  the 
plateau  southeast  of  the  Capitol,  an  enormous  struc 
ture  in  Italian  Renaissance,  a  quadrangle  four  hun 
dred  and  seventy  feet  long  and  three  hundred  and 
forty  feet  wide,  enclosing  four  courts  and  a  central 
rotunda.  It  was  finished  in  1897,  and  cost  about  $6,- 
200,000.  Its  elevated  gilded  dome  and  lantern  are 
conspicuous  objects  in  the  view.  This  great  Library, 
the  largest  in  the  country,  is  appropriately  orna 
mented,  and  its  book-stacks  have  accommodations  for 
about  five  millions  of  volumes,  the  present  number 
approximating  one  million,  with  nearly  three  hun 
dred  thousand  pamphlets.  The  Pension  Building  is 
another  huge  structure,  northwest  of  Capitol  Hill, 
built  around  a  covered  quadrangle,  which  is  used 
quadrennially  for  the  "  Inauguration  Ball,"  a  promi 
nent  Washington  official-social  function,  which  was 
adopted  to  relieve  the  White  House  from  the  former 


24     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

feasting  on  the  inauguration  night.  This  house,  ac 
commodating  the  army  of  pension  clerks,  has  running 
around  the  walls,  over  the  lower  windows,  a  broad 
band,  exhibiting  in  relief  a  marching  column  of 
troops,  with  representations  of  every  branch  of  the 
service.  Seventh  Street,  which  crosses  Pennsylvania 
Avenue  about  midway  between  the  Capitol  and  the 
Treasury,  has  to  the  northward  the  imposing  Corin 
thian  Post-office  Building,  formerly  the  headquarters 
of  the  postal  service.  Behind  this  is  the  Department 
of  the  Interior,  popularly  known  as  the  Patent  Office, 
as  a  large  part  of  it  is  occupied  by  patent  models. 
This  is  a  grand  Doric  structure,  occupying  two  blocks 
and  embracing  about  three  acres  of  buildings,  the 
main  entrance  being  a  magnificent  portico,  seen  from 
Pennsylvania  Avenue.  The  new  General  Post-office 
Department  Building  is  on  Pennsylvania  Avenue, 
covering  a  surface  of  three  hundred  by  two  hundred 
feet,  and  having  a  tower  rising  three  hundred  feet. 
It  has  just  been  completed.  The  Government  Print 
ing  Office,  where  the  public  printing  is  done,  and 
the  Treasury  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing, 
where  all  the  Government  money  issues  and  revenue 
stamps  are  made,  are  large  and  important  buildings, 
though  not  specifically  attractive  in  architecture. 

THE   SMITHSONIAN   INSTITUTION. 

Upon  the  Mall  stands  the  Smithsonian  Institution, 
of  world-wide  renown,  one  of  the  most  interesting 


- 


In  the  Congressional  Library, 
Washington,  D.  C. 


I'm  mi. 


THE  SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION.  '         25 

public  structures  in  Washington,  its  turrets  and 
towers  rising  above  the  trees.  The  origin  of  this 
famous  scientific  establishment  was  the  bequest  of  an 
Englishman,  James  Smithson,  a  natural  son  of  Hugh 
Smithson,  Duke  of  Northumberland,  born  in  1765. 
He  was  known  as  Louis  Macie  at  Oxford,  graduating 
under  that  name  j  early  developed  scientific  tastes  j 
was  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  the  friend  and 
associate  of  many  of  the  most  learned  men  of  his 
time,  and  lived  usually  in  Paris,  where  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  last  century  he  took  the  family  name  of 
his  father.  He  died  in  Italy  in  1829.  In  Washing 
ton's  Farewell  Address,  issued  in  1796,  there  occurs 
the  phrase,  "  An  institution  for  the  increase  and  dif 
fusion  of  knowledge,"  and  it  was  well  known  that  the 
Father  of  his  Country  cherished  a  project  for  a 
national  institution  of  learning  in  the  new  Federal 
City.  This  was  evidently  communicated  to  Smith- 
son  by  one  of  his  intimates  in  Paris,  Joel  Barlow,  a 
noted  American,  who  was  familiar  with  Washing 
ton's  plan,  and  in  this  way  originated  the  residuary 
bequest,  which  was  contained  in  the  following  clause 
of  Smithson's  will:  "I  bequeath  the  whole  of  my 
property  to  the  United  States  of  America,  to  found 
at  Washington,  under  the  name  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution,  an  establishment  for  the  increase  and  dif 
fusion  of  knowledge  among  men."  Upon  the  death 
of  Smith  son's  nephew,  without  heirs,  in  1835,  this 
bequest  became  operative,  and  the  United  States 


26     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

Legation  in  London  was  notified  that  the  estate,  then 
amounting  in  value  to  about  £100,000,  was  held  in 
possession  of  the  Accountant-General  of  the  Court 
of  Chancery.  This  was  something  novel  in  America, 
and  when  the  facts  became  public  opposition  arose  in 
Congress  to  accepting  the  gift,  eminent  men,  headed 
by  John  C.  Calhoun,  arguing  that  it  was  beneath  the 
dignity  of  the  United  States  to  receive  presents. 
Others,  however,  led  by  John  Quincy  Adams,  ar 
dently  advocated  acceptance.  The  latter  carried  the 
day ;  Richard  Rush  was  sent  to  London,  as  agent,  to 
prosecute  the  claim  in  the  Court  of  Chancery,  in  the 
name  of  the  President  of  the  United  States ;  and  the 
legacy  was  obtained  and  delivered  at  the  Mint  in 
Philadelphia,  September  1,  1838,  in  the  sum  of  104,- 
960  British  sovereigns,  and  was  immediately  recoined 
into  United  States  money,  producing  $508,318.46, 
the  first  installment  of  the  legacy.  There  were  sub 
sequent  additional  installments,  and  the  total  sum  in 
1867  reached  $650,000.  This  original  sum  was  de 
posited  in  the  Federal  Treasury  in  perpetuity,  at  six 
per  cent,  interest,  and  the  income  has  been  devoted 
to  the  erection  of  the  buildings,  and,  with  other  sub 
sequently  added  sums,  to  the  support  of  the  vast  es 
tablishment  which  has  grown  from  the  original  gift. 

The  Smithsonian  Institution  was  formally  created 
by  Act  of  Congress,  August  10,  1846,  the  corpora 
tion  being  composed  of  the  President,  Vice-President, 
members  of  the  Cabinet  and  Chief  Justice,  who  are 


THE  SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION.   '          27 

constituted  the  "establishment,"  made  responsible 
for  the  duty  of  "  the  increase  and  diffusion  of  knowl 
edge  among  men."  The  Institution  is  administered 
by  a  Board  of  Regents,  including  in  addition  three 
Senators,  three  members  of  the  House,  and  six  citi 
zens  appointed  by  Congress ;  the  presiding  officer, 
called  the  "  Chancellor,"  being  usually  the  Chief  Jus 
tice,  and  the  secretary  of  the  board  is  the  Executive 
Officer.  The  late  eminent  Professor  Joseph  Henry 
was  elected  secretary  in  1846,  and  he  designed  the 
plan  and  scope  of  the  Institution,  continuing  as  its 
executive  head  until  his  death  in  1878.  His  statue 
stands  in  the  grounds  near  the  entrance.  Two  other 
secretaries  followed  him,  Spencer  F.  Baird  (who  was 
twenty-seven  years  assistant  secretary),  and  upon  his 
death  Samuel  P.  Langley,  in  1888.  The  ornate 
building  of  red  Seneca  brownstone,  a  fine  castellated 
structure  in  the  Renaissance  style,  was  designed  in 
1847  and  finished  in  1855.  Its  grand  front  stretches 
about  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  its  nine  towers 
and  turrets,  rising  from  seventy-five  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  feet,  stand  up  prettily  behind  the  groves  of 
trees.  This  original  building  contains  a  museum  of 
natural  history  and  anthropology.  In  connection  with 
it  there  is  another  elaborate  structure  over  three 
hundred  feet  square — the  National  Museum — con 
taining  numerous  courts,  surrounding  a  central  ro 
tunda,  beneath  which  a  fountain  plashes.  This  is 
under  the  same  management,  and  directly  supported 


28     AMEKICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

by  the  Government,  the  design  being  to  perfect  a  col 
lection  much  like  the  British  Museum,  but  paying 
more  attention  to  American  antiquities  and  products. 
This  adjunct  museum  began  with  the  gifts  by  foreign 
Governments  to  the  Philadelphia  Centennial  Expo 
sition  in  1876,  most  of  them  being  still  preserved 
there.  The  Smithsonian  Trust  Fund  now  approxi 
mates  $1,000,000,  and  there  are  various  other  gifts 
and  bequests  held  in  the  Treasury  for  various  scien 
tific  purposes  similarly  administered. 

Briefly  stated,  the  plan  of  Professor  Henry  was  to 
"  increase  knowledge  "  by  original  investigations  and 
study,  either  in  science  or  literature,  and  to  "  diffuse 
knowledge  "  not  only  through  the  United  States,  but 
everywhere,  and  especially  by  promoting  an  inter 
change  of  thought  among  the  learned  in  all  nations, 
with  no  restriction  in  favor  of  any  one  branch  of 
knowledge.  A  leading  feature  of  his  plan  was  "  to 
assist  men  of  science  in  making  original  researches, 
to  publish  them  in  a  series  of  volumes,  and  to  give  a 
copy  of  them  to  every  first-class  library  on  the  face 
of  the  earth."  There  is  said  to  be  probably  not  a 
scientific  observer  of  any  standing  in  the  United 
States  to  whom  the  Institution  has  not  at  some  time 
extended  a  helping  hand,  and  this  aid  also  goes  liber 
ally  across  the  Atlantic.  As  income  grew,  the  scope 
has  been  enlarged.  In  the  various  museums  there  is 
a  particularly  good  collection  of  American  ethnology, 
and  a  most  elaborate  display  of  American  fossils, 


THE  SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION.  29 

minerals,  animals,  birds  and  antiquities.  There  are 
also  shown  by  the  Fish  Commission  specimens  of  the 
fishing  implements  and  fishery  methods  of  all  nations, 
an  exhibition  which  is  unexcelled  in  these  special  de 
partments.  Many  specifically  interesting  things  are 
in  the  National  Museum.  The  personal  effects  of 
Washington,  Jackson  and  General  Grant  are  there. 
Benjamin  Franklin?s  old  printing-press  is  preserved 
in  a  somewhat  dilapidated  condition,  and  there  is  also 
the  first  railway  engine  sent  from  England  to  the 
United  States,  the  original  "John  Bull/7  built  by 
Stephenson  &  Son  at  Newcastle-on-Tyne  in  June, 
1831,  and  sent  out  as  "Engine  No.  1"  for  the 
Camden  and  Amboy  Railroad  crossing  New  Jersey, 
now  a  part  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad.  It  weighs 
ten  tons,  and  has  four  driving-wheels  of  fifty-four 
inches  diameter.  This  relic,  after  being  used  on  the 
railroad  for  forty  years,  until  improved  machinery 
superseded  it,  has  been  given  the  Government  as  a 
national  heirloom.  Among  the  anthropological  col 
lections  is  a  chronologically  arranged  series  illus 
trating  American  history  from  the  period  of  the 
discovery  to  the  present  day.  This  includes  George 
Catlings  famous  collection  of  six  hundred  paintings, 
illustrating  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  North 
American  Indians.  One  of  the  most  important  fea 
tures  of  the  work  of  this  most  interesting  establish 
ment  is  its  active  participation  in  all  the  great 
International  Expositions  by  the  loan  to  them  of 


30     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

valuable  exhibits  under    Government  direction  and 
control. 

THE  SOLDIERS'  HOME  AND  WASHINGTON  MONUMENT. 

The  city  of  Washington,  with  progressing  years, 
is  becoming  more  and  more  the  popular  residential 
city  of  the  country.  It  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
and  attractive,  the  admirable  plan,  with  the  wide 
asphalted  streets,  lined  with  trees,  opening  up  vista 
views  of  grand  public  buildings,  statues,  monuments 
or  leafy  parks,  making  it  specially  popular.  The 
northern  and  northwestern  sections,  on  the  higher 
grounds,  have  consequently  spread  far  beyond  the 
Executive  Mansion,  being  filled  with  rows  of  elabo 
rate  and  costly  residences,  the  homes  of  leading  pub 
lic  men.  The  streets  are  kept  scrupulously  clean, 
while  at  the  intersections  are  "  circles,"  triangles  and 
little  squares,  which  are  availed  of  for  pretty  parks, 
and  usually  contain  statues  of  distinguished  Ameri 
cans.  Among  the  noted  residence  streets  are  Ver 
mont,  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  Avenues  and  K 
Street  and  Sixteenth  Street,  all  in  the  northwestern 
district.  Among  the  many  statues  adorning  the  small 
parks  and  "  circles  "  are  those  of  Washington,  Far- 
ragut,  Scott,  Thomas,  McPherson,  Dupont,  Logan, 
Franklin,  Hancock,  Grant,  Rawlins  and  Martin  Lu 
ther,  the  latter  a  replica  of  the  figure  in  the  Refor 
mation  Monument  at  Worms. 

To  the  northward  the  suburbs  rise  to  Columbia 


SOLDIEKS'  HOME— WASHINGTON  MONUMENT.      31 

Heights,  with  an  elevated  plateau  beyond,  where 
there  is  a  Government  park  covering  nearly  a  square 
mile  of  rolling  surface,  and  surrounding  one  of  the 
noted  rural  retreats  on  the  borders  of  the  Capital,  the 
"  Soldiers'  Home."  This  is  an  asylum  and  hospital 
for  disabled  and  superannuated  soldiers  of  the  Ameri 
can  regular  army,  containing  usually  about  six  hun 
dred  of  them,  and  founded  by  "General  Winfield 
Scott,  whose  statue  adorns  the  grounds.  Its  cottages 
have  been  favorite  retiring-places  of  the  Presidents 
in  the  warm  weather.  Amid  lovely  surroundings  the 
veterans  are  comfortably  housed,  and  in  the  adjacent 
cemetery  thousands  of  them  have  been  buried. 
Scott's  statue  stands  upon  the  southern  brow  of  the 
plateau,  where  a  ridge  is  thrust  out  in  a  commanding 
situation ;  and  from  here  the  old  commander  of  the 
army  forty  and  fifty  years  ago  gazes  intently  over 
the  lower  ground  to  the  city  three  miles  away,  with 
the  lofty  Capitol  dome  and  Washington  Monument 
rising  to  his  level,  while  beyond  them  the  broad  and 
placid  Potomac  winds  between  its  wooded  shores. 
This  is  the  most  elevated  spot  near  Washington, 
overlooking  a  wide  landscape.  In  the  cemetery  at 
the  Soldiers'  Home  sleeps  General  Logan,  among  the 
thousands  of  other  veterans.  To  the  westward  the 
beautiful  gorge  of  Rock  Creek  is  cut  down,  and  be 
yond  is  Georgetown,  with  its  noted  University, 
founded  by  the  Jesuits  in  1789,  and  having  about 
seven  hundred  students.  In  the  Oak  Hill  Cemetery, 


32     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

at  Georgetown,  is  the  grave  of  John  Howard  Payne, 
the  author  of  "  Home,  Sweet  Home,"  who  died  in 
1852.  Far  away  over  the  Potomac,  in  the  Arling 
ton  National  Cemetery,  are  the  graves  of  Generals 
Sherman  and  Sheridan. 

Down  near  the  Potomac,  on  the  Mall,  to  the  west 
ward  of  the  Smithsonian  turrets,  is  the  extensive 
brick  and  brownstone  building  representing  the  dom 
inant  industry  of  the  United  States,  which  gives  the 
politicians  so  much  anxiety  in  catering  for  votes — • 
the  Agricultural  Department.  Here  are  spacious 
gardens  and  greenhouses,  an  arboretum  and  herba 
rium,  the  adjacent  buildings  also  containing  an  agri 
cultural  museum.  As  over  three-fifths  of  the  men  in 
the  United  States  are  farmers  and  farm-workers,  and 
many  others  are  in  the  adjunct  industries,  it  has  be 
come  a  popular  saying  in  Washington  that  if  you 
wish  to  scare  Congress  you  need  only  shake  a  cow's 
tail  at  it.  This  department  has  grown  into  an 
enormous  distributing  office  for  seeds  and  cuttings, 
crop  reports  and  farming  information.  Among  its 
curiosities  is  the  "  Sequoia  Tree  Tower,"  formed  of 
a  section  of  a  Sequoia  or  Big  Tree  of  California, 
which  was  three  hundred  feet  high  and  twenty-six 
feet  in  diameter  at  the  base. 

Behind  the  Agricultural  Department,  and  rising 
almost  at  the  river  bank,  and  in  front  of  the  Execu 
tive  Mansion,  is  the  noted  Washington  Monument, 
its  pointed  apex  elevated  five  hundred  and  fifty-five 


SOLDIERS'  HOME— WASHINGTON  MONUMENT.      33 

feet.  This  is  a  square  and  gradually  tapering  shaft, 
constructed  of  white  Maryland  marble,  the  walls 
fifteen  feet  thick  at  the  base  and  eighteen  inches  at 
the  top,  the  pyramidal  apex  being  fifty-five  feet  high 
and  capped  with  a  piece  of  aluminum.  Its  construc 
tion  was  begun  in  1848,  abandoned  in  1855,  resumed 
in  1877  and  finished  in  1884,  at  a  total  cost  of  $1,- 
300,000.  The  lower  walls  contain  stones  contributed 
by  public  corporations  and  organizations,  many  being 
sent  by  States  and  foreign  nations,  and  bearing  suit 
able  inscriptions  in  memory  of  Washington.  A 
fatiguing  stairway  of  nine  hundred  steps  leads  to  the 
top,  and  there  is  also  a  slow-moving  elevator.  From 
the  little  square  windows,  just  below  the  apex,  there 
is  a  grand  view  over  the  surrounding  country.  Afar 
off  to  the  northwest  is  seen  the  long  hazy  wall  of 
the  Blue  Ridge  or  Kittatinny  Mountain  range,  its 
prominent  peak,  the  Sugar  Loaf,  being  fifty  miles 
distant.  To  the  eastward  is  the  Capitol  and  its  sur 
mounting  dome,  over  a  mile  away,  while  the  city 
spreads  all  around  the  view  below,  like  a  toy  town, 
its  streets  crossing  as  on  a  chess-board,  and  cut  into 
gores  and  triangles  by  the  broad,  diagonal  avenues 
lined  with  trees,  the  houses  being  interspersed  with 
many  foliage-covered  spaces.  Coming  from  the 
northwest  the  Potomac  passes  nearly  at  the  foot  of 
the  monument,  with  Arlington  Heights  over  on  the 
distant  Virginia  shore,  and  the  broad  river  channel 
flowing  away  to  the  southwest  until  lost  among  the 
VOL.  I.— 3 


34     AMEKICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

winding  forest-clad  shores  below  Alexandria.  From 
this  elevated  perch  can  be  got  an  excellent  idea  of 
the  peculiarities  of  the  town,  its  vast  plan  and  long 
intervals  of  space,  so  that  there  is  quite  plainly  shown 
why  the  practical  Yankee  race  calls  it  the  "  City  of 
Magnificent  Distances."  Possibly  one  of  the  best 
descriptions  of  Washington  and  its  characteristics  is 
that  of  the  poet  in  the  Washington  Post : 

A  city  well  named  of  magnificent  distances  ; 

Of  boulevards,  palaces,  fountains  and  trees  ; 
Of  sunshine  and  moonlight  whose  subtle  insistence  is — 

"  Bask  in  our  radiance  !  Be  lulled  by  our  breeze  1" 
A  city  like  Athens  set  down  in  Arcadia  ; 

White  temples  and  porticoes  gleaming  'mid  groves  ; 
Where  nymphs  glide  and  smile  as  though  quite  unafraid  o* 
you, 

The  home  of  the  Muses,  the  Graces,  the  Loves  ; 
The  centre  of  Politics,  Letters  and  Sciences  ; 

Elysium  of  Arts,  yet  the  Lobbyist's  Dream  ; 
Where  gather  the  clans  whose  only  reliance  is 

Gold  and  the  dross  that  sweeps  down  with  its  stream ; 
An  isle  of  the  lotus,  where  every-day  business 

Sails  on  its  course  all  unvexed  by  simoons  ; 
No  bustle  or  roar,  no  mad-whirling  dizziness 

O'er  velvety  streets  like  Venetian  lagoons  ; 
A  town  where  from  nothing  whatever  they  bar  women, 

From  riding  a  bicycle — tending  a  bar ; 
Ex-cooks  queen  society — ladies  are  charwomen — 

For  such  the  plain  facts  as  too  often  they  are. 
A  city  where  applicants,  moody,  disconsolate, 

Swoop  eager  for  office  and  senseless  to  shame  ; 
The  "heeler"  quite  certain  of  getting  his  consulate, 

Although,  to  be  sure,  he  can't  sign  his  name ; 
A  town  where  all  types  of  humanity  congregate  ; 

The  millionaire  lolling  on  cushions  of  ease  ; 


THE  POTOMAC  AND  THE  ALLEGHENIES.       35 

The  tramp  loping  by  at  a  wolfish  and  hungry  gait ; 

And  mankind  in  general  a'  go  as  you  please. 
A  city  in  short  of  most  strange  inconsistencies  ; 

Condensing  the  history  of  man  since  the  fall ; 
A  city,  however,  whose  piece  de  resistance  is 

This— 'tis  the  best  and  the  fairest  of  all. 


THE  POTOMAC  AND  THE  ALLEGHENIES. 

The  Potomac  is  one  of  tlie  chief  among  the  many 
rivers  draining  the  Allegheny  Mountains.  It  origi 
nates  in  two  branches,  rising  in  West  Virginia  and 
uniting  northwest  of  Cumberland  j  is  nearly  four 
hundred  miles  long;  has  remarkably  picturesque 
scenery  in  the  magnificent  gorges  and  reaches  of  its 
upper  waters ;  breaks  through  range  after  range  of 
the  AHeghenies,  and  after  reaching  the  lowlands  be 
comes  a  tidal  estuary  for  a  hundred  miles  of  its  final 
course,  broadening  to  six  and  eight  and  ultimately 
sixteen  miles  wide  at  its  mouth  in  the  Chesapeake. 
Washington  is  near  the  head  of  tidewater,  one  hun 
dred  and  twenty-five  miles  from  the  bay ;  and  for 
almost  its  entire  course  the  Potomac  is  an  interstate 
boundary,  between  Maryland  and  West  Virginia  and 
Virginia.  Its  name  is  Indian,  referring  to  its  use  in 
their  primitive  navigation,  the  original  word  u  Peto- 
mok  "  meaning  "  they  are  coming  by  water  " — "  they 
draw  near  in  canoes."  The  Alleghenies,  where  this 
noted  river  originates,  are  a  remarkable  geological 
formation.  The  Atlantic  Coast  of  the  United  States 
has  a  general  trend  from  the  northeast  to  the  south- 


36     AMERICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

west,  with  bordering  sand  beaches,  and  back  of  them 
a  broad  band  of  pines.  Then,  towards  the  north 
west,  the  land  gradually  rises,  being  formed  in  suc 
cessive  ridges,  with  intervening  valleys,  until  it 
reaches  the  Alleghenies.  The  great  ranges  of  this 
mountain  chain,  which  is  geologically  known  as  the 
Appalachian  System,  run  almost  parallel  to  the  coast 
for  over  a  thousand  miles,  from  the  White  Mountains 
of  New  Hampshire  down  to  Alabama.  They  are 
noted  mountains,  not  very  high,  but  of  remarkable 
construction,  and  are  said  to  be  much  older  in  geo 
logical  formation  than  the  Alps  or  the  Andes.  They 
are  composed  of  series  of  parallel  ridges,  one  beyond 
the  other,  and  all  following  the  same  general  course, 
like  the  successive  waves  of  the  ocean.  For  long 
distances  these  ridges  run  in  perfectly  straight  lines, 
and  then,  as  one  may  curve  around  into  a  new  direc 
tion,  all  the  others  curve  with  it.  The  intervening 
valleys  are  as  remarkable  in  their  parallelism  as  the 
ridges  enclosing  them.  From  the  seaboard  to  the 
mountains  the  ranges  of  hills  are  of  the  same  general 
character,  but  with  less  elevation,  gentler  slopes,  and 
in  most  cases  narrower  and  much  more  fertile  val 
leys. 

The  South  Mountain,  an  irregular  and  in  some 
parts  broken-down  ridge,  is  the  outpost  of  the  Alle 
ghenies,  while  the  great  Blue  Ridge  is  their  eastern 
buttress.  The  latter  is  about  twenty  miles  north 
west  of  the  South  Mountain,  and  is  the  famous  Kit- 


THE  POTOMAC  AND  THE  ALLEGHENIES.        37 

tatinny  range,  named  by  the  Indians,  and  in  their 
figurative  language  meaning  "the  endless  chain  of 
hills."  It  stretches  from  the  Catskills  in  New  York 
southwest  to  Alabama,  a  distance  of  eight  hundred 
miles,  a  veritable  backbone  for  the  Atlantic  seaboard, 
its  rounded  ridgy  peaks  rising  sometimes  twenty-five 
hundred  feet  north  of  the  Carolinas,  and  much  higher 
in  those  States.  It  stands  up  like  a  great  blue  wall 
against  the  northwestern  horizon,  deeply  notched 
where  the  rivers  flow  out,  and  is  the  eastern  border 
for  the  mountain  chain  of  numerous  parallel  ridges 
of  varying  heights  and  characteristics  that  stretch 
in  rows  behind  it,  covering  a  width  of  a  hundred 
miles  or  more.  Within  this  chain  is  the  vast  store 
of  minerals  that  has  done  so  much  to  create  Ameri 
can  wealth — the  coal  and  iron,  the  ores  and  metals, 
that  are  in  exhaustless  supply,  and  upon  the  surface 
grew  the  forests  of  timber  that  were  used  in  building 
the  seaboard  cities,  but  are  now  nearly  all  cut  off. 
The  great  Atlantic  Coast  rivers  rise  among  these 
mountain  ridges,  break  through  the  Kittatinny  and 
flow  down  to  the  ocean,  while  the  streams  on  their 
western  slopes  drain  into  the  Mississippi  Valley. 
The  Hudson  breaks  through  the  Kittatinny  outcrop 
at  the  West  Point  Highlands,  the  Delaware  forces  a 
passage  at  the  Water  Gap,  the  Lehigh  at  the  Lehigh 
Gap,  below  Mauch  Chunk;  the  Schuylkill  at  Port 
Clinton,  the  Susquehanna  at  Dauphin,  above  Harris- 
burg,  and  the  Potomac  at  Harper's  Ferry.  All  these 


38     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

rivers  either  rise  among  or  force  their  winding  pas 
sages  through  the  various  ranges  behind  the  great 
Blue  Ridge,  and  also  through  the  South  Mountain 
and  the  successive  parallel  ranges  of  lower  hills  that 
are  met  on  their  way  to  the  coast,  so  that  all  in  their 
courses  display  most  picturesque  valleys. 

HARPER'S  FERRY  AND  JOHN  BROWN. 
The  Potomac,  having  flowed  more  than  two  hun 
dred  miles  through  beautiful  gorges  and  the  finest 
scenery  of  these  mountains,  finally  breaks  out  at 
Harper's  Ferry,  receiving  here  its  chief  tributary, 
the  Shenandoah,  coming  up  from  Virginia,  the  Poto 
mac  River  passage  of  the  Blue  Ridge  being  described 
by  Thomas  Jefferson  as  "  one  of  the  most  stupendous 
scenes  in  nature."  The  Shenandoah — its  name  mean 
ing  "  the  stream  passing  among  the  spruce-pines  " — 
flows  through  the  fertile  and  famous  "  Valley  of  Vir 
ginia,"  noted  for  its  many  battles  and  active  move 
ments  of  troops  during  the  Civil  War,  when  the  rival 
forces,  as  fortunes  changed,  chased  each  other  up  and 
down  the  Valley ;  and  Harper's  Ferry,  at  the  con 
fluence  of  the  rivers,  and  the  towering  Maryland 
Heights  on  the  northern  side  and  the  Loudon 
Heights  on  the  Virginia  side,  the  great  buttresses 
of  the  river  passage,  being  generally  held  as  a 
northern  border  fortress.  These  huge  mountain 
walls  rise  fifteen  hundred  feet  above  the  town,  which 
has  a  population  of  about  two  thousand. 


HARPER'S  FERRY  AND  JOHN  BROWN.  -      39 

Harper's  Ferry  was  also  the  scene  of  "  John 
Brown's  raid,"  which  was  practically  the  opening  act 
of  the  Civil  War,  although  actual  hostilities  did  not 
begin  until  more  than  a  year  afterwards.  "  Old  John 
Brown  of  Osawatomie  "  was  a  tanner,  an  unsettled 
and  adventurous  spirit  and  foe  of  slavery,  born  in 
Connecticut  in  1800,  but  who,  at  the  same  time,  was 
one  of  the  most  upright  and  zealous  men  that  ever 
lived.  In  his  wanderings  he  migrated  to  Kansas  in 
1855,  where  he  lived  at  Osawatomie,  and  fought 
against  the  pro-slavery  party.  His  house  was  burnt 
and  his  son  killed  in  the  Kansas  border  wars,  and  he 
made  bloody  reprisals.  Smarting  under  his  wrongs, 
he  became  the  master-spirit  of  a  convention  which 
met  at  Chatham,  Canada,  in  May,  1859,  and  organ 
ized  an  invasion  of  Virginia  to  liberate  the  slaves. 
Having  formed  his  plans,  he  rented  a  farmhouse  in 
July  about  six  miles  from  Harper's  Ferry,  and  gath 
ered  his  forces  together.  On  the  night  of  October 
16th,  with  twenty-two  associates,  six  being  negroes, 
he  crossed  the  bridge  into  Harper's  Ferry,  and  cap 
tured  the  arsenal  and  armory  of  the  Virginia  militia, 
intending  to  liberate  the  slaves  and  occupy  the 
heights  of  the  Blue  Ridge  as  a  base  of  operations 
against  their  owners.  A  detachment  of  United  States 
marines  were  next  day  sent  to  the  aid  of  the  militia, 
and,  after  two  days'  desultory  hostilities,  some  of  his 
party  were  killed,  and  Brown  and  the  survivors  were 
captured  and  given  up  to  the  Virginia  authorities  for 


40     AMEEICA,  PICTUBESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

trial.  His  final  stand  was  made  in  a  small  engine- 
house,  known  as  "  John  Brown's  Fort,"  which  was 
exhibited  at  the  Chicago  Exposition  in  1893.  Brown 
and  six  of  his  associates  were  hanged  at  the  county- 
seat,  Charlestown,  seven  miles  southwest  of  Harper's 
Ferry,  on  December  2d,  Brown  facing  death  with  the 
greatest  serenity.  His  raid  failed,  but  it  was  poten 
tial  in  disclosing  the  bitter  feeling  between  the  North 
and  the  South,  and  it  furnished  the  theme  for  the 
most  popular  and  inspiring  song  of  the  Civil  War : 

"John  Brown's  body  lies  mouldering  in  the  grave, 
But  his  soul  goes  marching  on." 

THE  GREAT  FALLS  AND  ALEXANDRIA. 

The  Potomac  continues  its  picturesque  course 
below  Harper's  Ferry,  and  passes  the  Point  of  Rocks, 
a  promontory  of  the  Catoctin  Mountain,  a  prolonga 
tion  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  There  were  battles  fought 
all  about,  the  most  noted  being  at  South  Mountain  and 
Antietam,  to  the  northward,  in  September,  1862; 
while  it  was  at  Frederick,  fifteen  miles  away,  during 
this  campaign,  that  Barbara  Frietchie  was  said  to 
have  waved  the  flag  as  Stonewall  Jackson  marched 
through  the  town,  immortalized  in  Whittier's  poem. 
Here  is  buried  Francis  Scott  Key,  author  of  the 
"  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  who  died  in  1843,  and  a 
handsome  monument  was  erected  to  his  memory  in 
1898.  The  Potomac  reaches  its  Great  Falls  about 
fifteen  miles  above  Washington,  where  it  descends 


THE  GKEAT  FALLS  AND  ALEXANDEIA.    41 

eighty  feet  in  about  two  miles,  including  a  fine  cata 
ract  thirty-five  feet  high.  Below  this  is  the  "  Cabin 
John  Bridge/7  with  one  of  the  largest  stone  arches  in 
the  world,  of  two  hundred  and  twenty  feet  span, 
built  for  the  Washington  Aqueduct,  carrying  the  city 
water  supply  from  the  Great  Falls.  On  Wesley 
Heights,  to  the  northward,  the  new  American  Uni 
versity  of  the  Methodist  Church  is  being  constructed. 
Below  Washington,  the  river  passes  the  ancient 
city  of  Alexandria,  a  quaint  old  Virginian  town, 
which  was  formerly  of  considerable  commercial  im 
portance,  but  is  now  quiet  and  restful,  and  cherishing 
chiefly  the  memory  of  Greorge  Washington,  who  lived 
at  Mount  Vernon,  a  few  miles  below,  and  was  its 
almost  daily  visitor  to  transact  his  business  and  go  to 
church  and  entertainments.  The  tradition  is  that 
Madison,  who  was  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Con 
gress,  selected  Alexandria  for  the  "Federal  City," 
intending  to  erect  the  Capitol  on  Shooters'  Hill,  a 
mile  out  of  town,  as  grand  an  elevation  as  the  hill  in 
Washington ;  but  he  was  overruled  by  the  President 
because  the  latter  hesitated  to  thus  favor  his  native 
State.  Had  Madison  had  his  way,  the  town  probably 
would  not  now  be  so  sleepy.  The  modest  little  steeple 
of  Christ  Church,  where  Washington  was  a  vestry 
man,  rises  back  of  the  town,  and  his  pew,  No.  5, 
is  still  shown,  for  which,  when  the  church  was  built 
and  consecrated  in  1773,  the  records  show  that  he 
paid  thirty-six  pounds,  ten  shillings.  To  construct 


42     AMEEICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

this  church  and  another  at  the  Falls,  the  vestry  of 
Fairfax  parish,  in  1766,  levied  an  assessment  of 
31,185  pounds  of  tobacco,  and  the  rector's  salary  was 
also  paid  in  tobacco.  After  the  Revolution,  to  help 
support  the  church,  Washington  and  seven  others 
signed  an  agreement  in  the  vestry-book  to  each  pay 
five  pounds  annual  rental  for  the  pews  they  owned. 
Robert  E.  Lee  was  baptized  and  confirmed  and  at 
tended  Sunday-school  in  this  old  church,  and  tablets 
in  memory  of  Washington  and  Lee  were  inserted  in 
the  church  wall  in  1870.  At  the  Carey  House,  near 
the  river,  Washington,  in  1755,  received  from  Gen 
eral  Braddock,  who  had  come  up  there  from  Hamp 
ton  Roads,  his  first  commission  as  an  aide  to  that 
commander,  with  the  rank  of  Major,  just  before  start 
ing  on  the  ill-starred  expedition  into  Western  Penn 
sylvania.  Alexandria  has  probably  fifteen  thousand 
people,  and  on  the  outskirts  is  another  mournful  relic 
of  the  Civil  War,  a  Soldiers'  Cemetery,  with  four 
thousand  graves.  Below  Alexandria,  the  Hunting 
Creek  flows  into  the  Potomac,  this  stream  having 
given  Washington's  home  its  original  name  of  the 
"  Hunting  Creek  Estate." 


Mount  Vernon,  the  home  and  burial-place  of  George 
Washington,  is  seventeen  miles  below  the  city  of 
Washington,  the  mansion-house,  being  in  full  view, 
standing  among  the  trees  on  the  top  of  a  bluff,  rising 


WASHINGTON'S  HOME  AND  TOMB.  43 

about  two  hundred  feet  above  the  river.  As  the 
steamboat  approaches,  its  bell  is  tolled,  this  being  the 
universal  custom  on  n earing  or  passing  Washington's 
tomb.  It  originated  in  the  reverence  of  a  British 
officer,  Commodore  Gordon,  who,  during  the  invasion 
of  the  Capital  in  August,  1814,  sailed  past  Mount 
Vernon,  and  as  a  mark  of  respect  for  the  dead  had 
the  bell  of  his  ship,  the  "  Sea  Horse,"  tolled.  The 
"  Hunting  Creek  Estate "  was  originally  a  domain 
of  about  eight  thousand  acres  ;  and  Augustine  Wash 
ington,  dying  in  1743,  bequeathed  it  to  Lawrence 
Washington^  who,  having  served  in  the  Spanish 
wars  under  Admiral  Vernon,  named  it  Mount  Vernon 
in  his  honor.  George  Washington  was  born  in  1732, 
in  Westmoreland  County,  farther  down  the  Potomac, 
and  when  a  boy  lived  near  Fredericksburg,  on  the 
Rappahannock  River.  In  1752  he  inherited  Mount 
Vernon  from  Lawrence,  and  after  his  death  the  estate 
passed  to  his  nephew,  Bushrod  Washington,  subse 
quently  descending  to  other  members  of  the  family. 
Congress  repeatedly  endeavored  to  have  Washing 
ton's  remains  removed  to  the  crypt  under  the  rotunda 
of  the  Capitol  originally  constructed  for  their  recep 
tion,  but  the  family  always  refused,  knowing  it  was 
his  desire  to  rest  at  Mount  Vernon.  The  grounds 
and  buildings  being  in  danger  of  falling  into  dilapi 
dation,  and  the  estate  passing  under  control  of 
strangers,  a  patriotic  movement  began  throughout 
the  country  for  the  purchase  of  the  portion  contain- 


44     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

ing  the  tomb  and  mansion.  The  Virginia  Legisla 
ture,  in  1856,  passed  an  act  authorizing  the  sale,  and 
under  the  auspices  of  a  number  of  energetic  ladies 
who  formed  the  "  Mount  Vernon  Association,"  assisted 
by  the  oratory  of  Edward  Everett,  who  traversed 
the  country  making  a  special  plea  for  help,  a  tract  of 
two  hundred  acres  was  bought  for  $200,000,  being 
enlarged  by  subsequent  gifts  to  two  hundred  and 
thirty-five  acres.  These  ladies  and  their  successors 
have  since  taken  charge,  restoring  and  beautifying 
the  estate,  which  is  faithfully  preserved  as  a  patri 
otic  heritage  and  place  of  pilgrimage  for  visitors  from 
all  parts  of  the  world. 

The  steamboat  lands  at  Washington's  wharf  at  the 
foot  of  the  bluff,  where  he  formerly  loaded  his  barges 
with  flour  ground  at  his  own  mill,  shipping  most  of  it 
from  Alexandria  to  the  West  Indies.  The  road  from 
the  wharf  leads  up  a  ravine  cut  diagonally  in  the  face 
of  the  bluff,  directly  to  Washington's  tomb,  and  along 
side  the  ravine  are  several  weeping  willows  that  were 
brought  from  Napoleon's  grave  at  St.  Helena.  Wash 
ington's  will  directed  that  his  tomb  "  shall  be  built  of 
brick,"  and  it  is  a  plain  square  brick  structure,  with 
a  wide  arched  gateway  in  front  and  double  iron  gates. 
Above  is  the  inscription  on  a  marble  slab,  "  Within 
this  enclosure  rests  the  remains  of  General  George 
Washington."  The  vault  is  about  twelve  feet  square, 
the  interior  being  plainly  seen  through  the  gates.  It 
has  upon  the  floor  two  large  stone  coffins,  that  on  the 


WASHINGTON'S  HOME  AND  TOMB.  45 

right  hand  containing  Washington,  and  that  on  the 
left  his  widow  Martha,  who  survived  him  over  a 
year.  In  a  closed  vault  at  the  rear  are  the  remains 
of  numerous  relatives,  and  in  front  of  the  tomb 
monuments  are  erected  to  several  of  them.  No 
monument  marks  the  hero,  but  carved  upon  the 
coffin  is  the  American  coat-of-arms,  with  the  single 
word  "  Washington." 

The  road,  farther  ascending  the  bluff,  passes  the 
original  tomb,  with  the  old  tombstone  antedating 
Washington  and  bearing  the  words  "  Washington 
Family."  This  was  the  tomb,  then  containing  the 
remains,  which  Lafayette  visited  in  1824,  escorted  by 
a  military  guard  from  Alexandria  to  Mount  Vernon, 
paying  homage  to  the  dead  amid  salvos  of  cannon 
reverberating  across  the  broad  Potomac.  It  is  a 
round-topped  and  slightly  elevated  oven-shaped 
vault.  The  road  at  the  top  of  the  bluff  reaches  the 
mansion,  standing  in  a  commanding  position,  with  a 
fine  view  over  the  river  to  the  Maryland  shore.  It 
is  a  long  wooden  house,  with  an  ample  porch  facing 
the  river.  It  is  built  with  simplicity,  two  stories 
high,  and  contains  eighteen  rooms,  there  being  a 
small  surmounting  cupola  for  a  lookout.  The  central 
portion  is  the  original  house  built  by  Lawrence 
Washington,  who  called  it  his  "  villa,"  and  afterwards 
George  Washington  extended  it  by  a  large  square 
wing  at  each  end,  and  when  these  were  added  he 
gave  it  the  more  dignified  title  of  the  "Mansion." 


46     AMEEICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

The  house  is  ninety-six  feet  long  and  thirty  feet 
wide,  the  porch,  extending  along  the  whole  front, 
fifteen  feet  wide,  its  top  being  even  with  the  roof, 
thus  covering  the  windows  of  both  stories.  Eight 
large  square  wooden  columns  support  the  roof  of  the 
porch.  Behind  the  house,  on  either  side,  curved 
colonnades  lead  to  the  kitchens,  with  other  outbuild 
ings  beyond.  There  are  various  farm  buildings, 
and  a  brick  barn  and  stable,  the  bricks  of  which  it  is 
built  having  been  brought  out  from  England  about 
the  time  Washington  was  born,  being  readily  carried 
in  those  days  as  ballast  in  the  vessels  coming  out  for 
Virginia  tobacco.  The  front  of  the  mansion  faces 
east,  and  it  has  within  a  central  hall  with  apartments 
on  either  hand.  At  the  back,  beyond  the  outbuild 
ings  and  the  barn,  stretches  the  carriage  road,  which 
in  Washington's  time  was  the  main  entrance,  off  to 
the  porter's  lodge,  on  the  high  road,  at  the  boundary 
of  the  present  estate,  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
away.  Everything  is  quiet,  and  in  the  thorough  re 
pose  befitting  such  a  great  man's  tomb  j  and  this  is 
the  modest  mansion  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac  that 
was  the  home  of  one  of  the  noblest  Americans. 

THE   WASHINGTON   RELICS. 

As  may  be  supposed,  this  interesting  building  is 
filled  with  relics.  The  most  valuable  of  all  of  them 
hangs  on  the  wall  of  the  central  hall,  in  a  small  glass 
case  shaped  like  a  lantern — the  Key  of  the  Bastille — 


THE  WASHINGTON  KELICS.  47 

which  was  sent  to  Washington,  as  a  gift  from  Lafay 
ette,  shortly  after  the  destruction  of  the  noted  prison 
in  1789.  This  is  the  key  of  the  main  entrance,  the 
Porte  St.  Antoine,  an  old  iron  key  with  a  large  handle 
of  peculiar  form.  This  gift  was  always  highly  prized 
at  Mount  Vernon,  and  in  sending  it  Lafayette  wrote : 
"  It  is  a  tribute  which  I  owe  as  a  son  to  my  adopted 
father  j  as  an  aide-de-camp  to  my  general ;  as  a  mis 
sionary  of  liberty  to  its  patriarch."  The  key  was 
confided  to  Thomas  Paine  for  transmission,  and  he 
sent  it  together  with  a  model  and  drawing  of  the 
Bastille.  In  sending  it  to  Washington  Paine  said : 
"  That  the  principles  of  America  opened  the  Bastille 
is  not  to  be  doubted,  and  therefore  the  key  comes 
to  the  right  place."  The  model,  which  was  cut  from 
the  granite  stones  of  the  demolished  prison,  and  the 
drawing,  giving  a  plan  of  the  interior  and  its  ap 
proaches,  are  also  carefully  preserved  in  the  house. 

The  Washington  relics  are  profuse — portraits, 
busts,  old  furniture,  swords,  pistols  and  other 
weapons,  camp  equipage,  uniforms,  clothing,  books, 
autographs  and  musical  instruments,  including  the 
old  harpsichord  which  President  Washington  bought 
for  two  hundred  pounds  in  London,  as  a  bridal  present 
for  his  wife's  daughter,  Eleanor  Parke  Custis,  whom 
he  adopted.  There  is  also  an  old  armchair  which 
the  Pilgrims  brought  over  in  the  "Mayflower"  in 
1620.  Each  apartment  in  the  house  is  named  for  a 
State,  and  cared  for  by  one  of  the  Lady-Regents  of  the 


48     AMEEICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVR 

Association.  In  the  banquet-hall,  which  is  one  of  the 
wings  Washington  added,  is  an  elaborately-carved 
Carrara  marble  mantel,  which  was  sent  him  at  the 
time  of  building  by  an  English  admirer,  Samuel 
Vaughan.  It  was  shipped  from  Italy,  and  the  tale  is 
told  that  on  the  voyage  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  pirates, 
who,  hearing  it  was  to  go  to  the  great  American 
Washington,  sent  it  along  without  ransom  and  unin 
jured.  Rembrandt  Peale's  equestrian  portrait  of 
Washington  with  his  generals  covers  almost  the  entire 
end  of  this  hall.  Here  also  is  hung  the  original  proof- 
sheet  of  Washington's  Farewell  Address.  Up  stairs 
is  the  room  where  Washington  died;  the  bed  on 
which  he  expired  and  every  article  of  furniture  are 
preserved,  including  his  secretary  and  writing-case, 
toilet-boxes  and  dressing-stand.  Just  above  this 
chamber,  under  the  peaked  roof,  is  the  room  in  which 
Mrs.  Washington  died.  Not  wishing  to  occupy  the 
lower  room,  after  his  death,  she  selected  this  one, 
because  its  dormer  window  gave  a  view  of  his  tomb. 
The  ladies  who  have  taken  charge  of  the  place  de 
serve  great  credit  for  their  complete  restoration; 
they  hold  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Association  in 
the  mansion  every  May. 

As  the  visitor  walks  through  the  old  house  and 
about  the  grounds,  solemn  and  impressive  thoughts 
arise  that  are  appropriate  to  this  great  American 
shrine.  From  the  little  wooden  cupola  there  is  seen 
the  same  view  over  the  broad  Potomac  upon  which 


MAEY,  THE  MOTHEE  OF  WASHINGTON.        49 

Washington  so  often  gazed.  The  noble  river,  two 
miles  wide,  seems  almost  to  surround  the  estate  with 
its  majestic  curve,  flowing  between  the  densely- 
wooded  shores.  Above  Mount  Vernon  is  a  project 
ing  bluff,  which  Fort  Washington  surmounts  on  the 
opposite  shore — a  stone  work  which  he  planned — 
hardly  seeming  four  miles  off,  it  is  so  closely  visible 
across  the  water.  In  front  are  the  Maryland  hills, 
and  the  river  then  flows  to  the  southward,  its  broad 
and  winding  reaches  being  seen  afar  off,  as  the  south 
ern  shores  slope  upward  into  the  forest-covered  hills 
of  the  sacred  soil  of  the  proud  State  of  Virginia. 
And  then  the  constantly  broadening  estuary  of  the 
grand  Potomac  stretches  for  more  than  a  hundred 
miles,  far  beyond  the  distant  horizon,  until  it  becomes 
a  wide  inland  sea  and  unites  its  waters  at  Point 
Lookout  with  those  of  Chesapeake  Bay. 

MARY,  THE  MOTHER  OF  WASHINGTON. 

To  the  southward  of  the  Potomac  a  short  distance, 
and  flowing  almost  parallel,  is  another  noted  river  of 
Virginia,  the  Rappahannock,  rising  in  the  foothills 
of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  broadening  into  a  wide  estu 
ary  in  its  lower  course.  Its  chief  tributary  is  the 
stream  which  the  colonists  named  after  the  "  good 
Queen  Anne,"  the  Rapid  Ann,  since  condensed  into 
the  Rapidan.  The  Indians  recognized  the  tidal  es 
tuary  of  the  Rappahannock,  for  the  name  means 
"the  current  has  returned  and  flowed  again,"  re- 
VOL.  I.— 4 


50     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

ferring  to  the  tidal  ebb  and  flow.  Upon  this  stream, 
southward  from  Washington,  is  the  quaint  old  city 
of  Fredericksburg,  which  has  about  five  thousand  in 
habitants,  and  five  times  as  many  graves  in  the  great 
National  Cemetery  on  Marye's  Heights  and  in  the  Con 
federate  Cemetery,  mournful  relics  of  the  sanguinary 
battles  fought  there  in  1862-63.  The  town  dates 
from  1727,  when  it  was  founded  at  the  head  of  tide 
water  on  the  Rappahannock,  where  a  considerable 
fall  furnishes  good  water-power,  about  one  hundred 
and  ten  miles  from  the  Chesapeake.  But  its  chief 
early  memory  is  of  Mary  Ball,  the  mother  of  Wash 
ington,  here  having  been  his  boyhood  home.  A 
monument  has  been  erected  to  her,  which  it  took  the 
country  more  than  a  century  to  complete.  She  was 
born  in  1706  on  the  lower  Rappahannock,  at  Epping 
Forest,  and  Sparks  and  Irving  speak  of  her  as  "  the 
belle  of  the  Northern  Neck  "  and  "  the  rose  of  Epping 
Forest."  In  early  life  she  visited  England,  and  the 
story  is  told  that  one  day  while  at  her  brother's 
house  in  Berkshire  a  gentleman's  coach  was  over 
turned  nearby  and  its  occupant  seriously  injured. 
He  was  brought  into  the  house  and  carefully  nursed 
by  Mary  Ball  until  he  fully  recovered.  This  gentle 
man  was  Colonel  Augustine  Washington,  of  Virginia, 
a  widower  with  three  sons,  and  it  is  recorded  in  the 
family  Bible  that  "  Augustine  Washington  and  Mary 
Ball  were  married  the  6th  of  March,  1730-31."  He 
brought  her  to  his  home  in  Westmoreland  County, 


WILLIAMSBUKG  AND  YOEKTOWN.  51 

where  George  was  born  the  next  year.  His  house 
there  was  accidentally  burnt  and  they  removed  to 
Fredericksburg,  where  Augustine  died  in  1740 ;  but 
she  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age,  dying  there  in  1789. 
When  her  death  was  announced  a  national  move 
ment  began  to  erect  a  monument,  but  it  was  per 
mitted  to  lapse  until  the  Washington  Centenary  in 
1832,  when  it  was  revived,  and  in  May,  1833,  Presi 
dent  Jackson  laid  the  corner-stone  with  impressive 
ceremonies  in  the  presence  of  a  large  assemblage  of 
distinguished  people.  The  monument  was  started 
and  partially  completed,  only  again  to  lapse  into 
desuetude.  In  1890  the  project  was  revived,  funds 
were  collected  by  an  association  of  ladies,  and  in 
May,  1894,  a  handsome  white  marble  obelisk,  fifty 
feet  high,  was  created  and  dedicated.  It  bears  the 
simple  inscription,  "Mary,  the  Mother  of  Wash 
ington." 

WILLIAMSBURG   AND   YORKTOWN. 

Again  we  cross  over  southward  from  the  Rappa- 
hannock  to  another  broad  tidal  estuary,  an  arm  of 
Chesapeake  Bay,  the  York  River.  This  is  formed 
by  two  comparatively  small  rivers,  the  Mattapony 
and  the  Pamunkey,  the  latter  being  the  Indian  name 
of  York  River.  It  is  quite  evident  that  the  Indians 
who  originally  frequented  and  named  these  streams 
did  not  have  as  comfortable  lives  in  that  region  as 
they  could  have  wished,  for  the  Mattapony  means 
"  no  bread  at  all  to  be  had,"  and  the  Pamunkey  means 


52     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

"where  we  were  all  sweating."  To  the  southward 
of  York  River,  and  between  it  and  James  River,  is 
the  famous  "  Peninsula,"  the  locality  of  the  first  set 
tlements  in  Virginia,  the  theatre  of  the  closing  scene 
of  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  and  the  route  taken 
by  General  McClellan  in  his  Peninsular  campaign  of 
1862  against  Richmond.  Williamsburg,  which  stands 
on  an  elevated  plateau  about  midway  of  the  Penin 
sula,  three  or  four  miles  from  each  river,  was  the 
ancient  capital  of  Virginia,  and  it  has  as  relics  the 
old  church  and  magazine  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
and  the  venerable  College  of  William  and  Mary, 
chartered  in  1693,  though  its  present  buildings  are 
mainly  modern.  This  city  was  named  for '  King 
William  HI.,  and  was  fixed  as  the  capital  in  1699, 
the  government  removing  from  Jamestown  the  next 
year.  In  1780  the  capital  was  again  removed  to 
Richmond.  This  old  city,  which  was  besieged  and 
captured  by  McClellan  in  his  march  up  the  Peninsula 
in  May,  1862,  now  has  about  eighteen  hundred  in 
habitants. 

Down  on  the  bank  of  York  River,  not  far  from 
Chesapeake  Bay,  with  a  few  remains  of  the  British 
entrenchments  still  visible,  is  Yorktown,  the  scene 
of  Cornwallis's  surrender,  the  last  conflict  of  the 
American  Revolution.  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  the  Brit 
ish  commander-in-chief  in  1781,  ordered  Lord  Corn- 
wallis  to  occupy  a  strong  defensible  position  in  Vir 
ginia,  and  he  established  himself  at  Yorktown  on 


WILLIAMSBURG  AND  YORKTOWN.  53 

August  1st,  with  his  army  of  eight  thousand  men, 
supported  by  several  warships  in  York  River,  and 
strongly  fortified  not  only  Yorktown,  but  also  Glou 
cester  Point,  across  the  river.  In  September  the 
American  and  French  forces  effected  a  junction  at 
Williamsburg,  marching  to  the  investment  of  York- 
town  on  the  28th.  Washington  commanded  the 
besieging  forces,  numbering  about  sixteen  thousand 
men,  of  whom  seven  thousand  were  Frenchmen. 
Upon  their  approach  the  British  abandoned  the  out 
works,  and  the  investment  of  the  town  was  completed 
on  the  30th.  The  first  parallel  of  the  siege  was  es 
tablished  October  9th,  and  heavy  batteries  opened 
with  great  effect,  dismounting  numerous  British  guns, 
and  destroying  on  the  night  of  the  10th  a  frigate  and 
three  large  transports.  The  second  parallel  was 
opened  on  the  llth,  and  on  the  14th,  by  a  brilliant 
movement,  two  British  redoubts  were  captured.  The 
French  fleet,  under  Count  De  Grasse,  in  Chesapeake 
Bay,  prevented  escape  by  sea,  and  CornwalhVs  posi 
tion  became  very  critical.  On  the  16th  he  made  a 
sortie,  which  failed,  and  on  the  17th  he  proposed 
capitulation.  The  terms  being  arranged,  he  surren 
dered  October  19th,  this  deciding  the  struggle  for 
American  independence.  When  the  British  troops 
marched  out  of  the  place,  and  passed  between  the 
French  and  American  armies,  it  is  recorded  that  their 
bands  dolefully  played  "  The  World  Turned  Upside 
Down."  Considering  the  momentous  results  follow- 


54     AMEEICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

ing  the  capitulation,  this  may  be  regarded  as  pro 
phetic.  Yorktown  was  again  besieged  in  1862  by 
McClellan,  and  after  several  weeks  was  taken  in 
May,  the  army  then  starting  on  its  march  up  the 
Peninsula. 

THE   NATURAL   BRIDGE. 

The  chief  river  of  Virginia  is  the  James,  a  noble 
stream,  rising  in  the  Alleghenies  and  flowing  for  four 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  western  border  of 
the  Old  Dominion  until  it  falls  into  Chesapeake  Bay 
at  Hampton  Koads.  Its  sources  are  in  a  region  noted 
for  mineral  springs,  and  the  union  of  Jackson  and 
Cowpasture  Rivers  makes  the  James,  which  flows  to 
the  base  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  there  receives  a 
smaller  tributary,  not  inappropriately  named  the 
Calfpasture  River.  The  James  breaks  through  the 
Blue  Ridge  by  a  magnificent  gorge  at  Balcony  Falls. 
Seven  miles  away,  spanning  the  little  stream  known 
as  Cedar  Brook,  is  the  famous  Natural  Bridge,  the 
wonderful  arch  of  blue  limestone  two  hundred  and 
fifteen  feet  high,  ninety  feet  wide,  and  having  a  span 
of  a  hundred  feet  thrown  across  the  chasm,  which 
has  given  to  the  county  the  name  of  Rockbridge. 
Overlooking  the  river  and  the  bridge  and  all  the 
country  roundabout  are  the  two  noble  Peaks  of  Otter, 
rising  about  four  thousand  feet,  the  highest  moun 
tains  in  that  part  of  the  Alleghenies.  This  wonder 
ful  bridge  is  situated  at  the  extremity  of  a  deep 
chasm,  through  which  the  brook  flows,  across  the  top 


•is  was  tak 

uoble 
•1  flowing  for  four 

Bay 

and 


an 


a  h  hich 

" 

and  all 
aksofO 
•,  the  hi 


The  Natural  ^Bridge,  <:0irgima 


THE  NATUEAL  BEIDGE.  55 

of  which  extends  the  rocky  stratum  in  the  form  of  a 
graceful  arch.  It  looks  as  if  the  limestone  rock  had 
originally  covered  the  entire  stream  bed,  which  then 
flowed  through  a  subterranean  tunnel,  the  rest  of  the 
limestone  roof  having  fallen  in  and  been  gradually 
washed  away.  The  bridge  is  finely  situated  in  a 
grand  amphitheatre  surrounded  by  mountains.  The 
crown  of  the  arch  is  forty  feet  thick,  the  rocky  walls 
are  perpendicular,  and  over  the  top  passes  a  public 
road,  which,  being  on  the  same  level  as  the  imme 
diately  adjacent  country,  one  may  cross  it  in  a  coach 
without  noticing  the  bridged  chasm  beneath.  Vari 
ous  large  forest  trees  grow  beneath  and  under  the 
arch,  but  are  not  tall  enough  to  reach  it.  On  the 
rocky  abutments  of  the  bridge  are  carved  the  names 
of  many  persons  who  had  climbed  as  high  as  they 
dared  on  the  steep  face  of  the  precipice.  Highest 
of  all,  for  about  seventy  years,  was  the  name  of 
Washington,  who,  in  his  youth,  ascended  about 
twenty-five  feet  to  a  point  never  before  reached  j 
but  this  feat  was  surpassed  in  1818  by  James  Piper, 
a  college  student,  who  actually  climbed  from  the  foot 
to  the  top  of  the  rock.  In  1774  Thomas  Jefferson 
obtained  a  grant  of  land  from  George  III.  which  in 
cluded  the  Natural  Bridge,  and  he  was  long  the 
owner,  building  the  first  house  there,  a  log  cabin 
with  two  rooms,  one  being  for  the  reception  of 
strangers.  Jefferson  called  the  bridge  "a  famous 
place  that  will  draw  the  attention  of  the  world  5" 


56     AMERICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

Chief  Justice  Marshall  described  it  as  "  God's  great 
est  miracle  in  stone ;"  and  Henry  Clay  said  it  was 
"The  bridge  not  made  with  hands,  that  spans  a 
river,  carries  a  highway,  and  makes  two  moun 
tains  one." 

THE   JAMES   RIVER  AND   POWHATAN. 

Following  down  James  River,  constantly  receiving 
accessions  from  mountain  streams,  we  soon  come  to 
Lynchburg,  most  picturesquely  built  on  the  sloping 
foothills  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  having  fine  water- 
power  for  its  factories,  a  centre  of  the  great  tobacco 
industry  of  Virginia,  supporting  a  population  of 
about  twenty  thousand  people.  Lynchburg  was  a 
chief  source  of  supply  for  Lee's  army  in  Eastern 
Virginia  until,  in  February,  1865,  Sheridan,  by  a 
bold  raid,  destroyed  the  canal  and  railroads  giving  it 
communication  ;  and,  after  evacuating  Richmond, 
Lee  was  endeavoring  to  reach  Lynchburg  when  he 
surrendered  at  Appomattox,  about  twenty  miles  to 
the  eastward,  on  April  9,  1865,  thus  ending  the  Civil 
War.  The  little  village  of  Appomattox  Court  House 
is  known  in  the  neighborhood  as  Clover  Hill.  When 
Lee  surrendered,  casualties,  captures  and  desertions 
had  left  him  barely  twenty-seven  thousand  men,  with 
only  ten  thousand  muskets,  thirty  cannon  and  three 
hundred  and  fifty  wagons. 

The  James  River,  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  drains 
a  grand  agricultural  district,  and  its  coffee-colored 


THE  JAMES  EIVER  AND  POWHATAN.          57 

waters  tell  of  the  rich  red  soils  through  which  it 
comes  in  the  tobacco  plantations  all  the  way  past 
Lynchburg  to  Richmond.  In  its  earlier  history  this 
noted  river  was  called  the  Powhatan,  and  it  bears 
that  name  on  the  older  maps.  Powhatan,  the  original 
word,  meant,  in  the  Indian  dialect,  the  "  falls  of  the 
stream"  or  "the  falling  waters,"  thus  named  from 
the  falls  and  rapids  at  Richmond,  where  the  James, 
in  the  distance  of  nine  miles,  has  a  descent  of  one 
hundred  and  sixteen  feet,  furnishing  the  magnificent 
water-power  which  is  the  source  of  much  of  the 
wealth  of  Virginia's  present  capital.  The  old  Indian 
sachem  whose  fame  is  so  intertwined  with  that  of 
Virginia  took  his  name  of  Powhatan  from  the  river. 
His  original  name  was  Wahunsonacock  when  the 
colonists  first  found  him,  and  he  then  lived  on  York 
River ;  but  it  is  related  that  he  grew  in  power,  raised 
himself  to  the  command  of  no  less  than  thirty  tribes, 
and  ruled  all  the  country  from  southward  of  the  James 
to  the  eastward  of  the  Potomac  as  far  as  Chesapeake 
Bay.  When  he  became  great,  for  he  was  unques 
tionably  the  greatest  Virginian  of  the  seventeeth 
century,  he  changed  his  name  and  removed  to  the 
James  River,  just  below  the  edge  of  Richmond, 
where,  near  the  river  bank,  is  now  pointed  out  his 
home,  still  called  Powhatan.  It  was  here  that  the 
Princess  Pocahontas  is  said  to  have  interfered  to 
save  the  life  of  Captain  John  Smith.  Here  still 
stands  a  precious  relic  in  the  shape  of  an  old  chim- 


58     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

ney,  believed  to  have  been  originally  built  for  the 
Indian  king's  cabin  by  his  colonist  friends.  It  is  of 
solid  masonry,  and  is  said  to  have  outlasted  several 
successive  cabins  which  had  been  built  up  against  it 
in  Southern  style.  A  number  of  cedars  growing 
alongside,  tradition  describes  as  shadowing  the  very 
stone  on  which  Smith's  head  was  laid.  It  may  not 
be  generally  known  that  early  in  the  history  of  the 
colony  Powhatan  was  crowned  as  a  king,  there 
having  been  brought  out  from  England,  for  the  spe 
cial  purpose,  a  crown  and  "  a  scarlet  cloke  and  ap- 
parrell."  The  writer  recording  the  ceremony  says 
quaintly :  a  Foule  trouble  there  was  to  make  him 
kneele  to  receive  his  crowne.  At  last,  by  leaning 
hard  on  his  shoulders,  he  a  little  stooped,  and  three 
having  the  crowne  in  their  hands,  put  it  on  his  head. 
To  congratulate  their  kindnesse,  he  gave  his  old 
shoes  and  his  mantell  to  Captaine  Newport,  telling 
him  take  them  as  presents  to  King  James  in  return 
for  his  gifts." 

THE   INDIAN   PRINCESS  POCAHONTAS. 

The  James  River  carries  a  heavy  commerce  below 
Richmond,  and  the  channel  depths  of  the  wayward 
and  very  crooked  stream  are  maintained  by  an 
elaborate  system  of  jetties,  constructed  by  the  Gov 
ernment.  Both  shores  show  the  earthworks  that  are 
relics  of  the  war,  and  Drewry's  Bluff,  with  Fort  Dar 
ling,  the  citadel  of  the  Confederate  defence  of  the 


THE  INDIAN  PKINCESS  POCAHONTAS.  59 

river,  is  projected  across  the  stream.  Below  is 
Dutch  Gap,  where  the  winding  river,  flowing  in  a 
level  plain,  makes  a  double  reverse  curve,  going 
around  a  considerable  surface  without  making  much 
actual  progress.  Here  is  the  Dutch  Gap  Canal, 
which  General  Butler  cut  through  the  narrowest  part 
of  the  long  neck  of  land,  thus  avoiding  Confederate 
batteries  and  saving  a  detour  of  five  and  a  half 
miles  j  it  is  now  used  for  navigation.  Just  below  is 
the  large  plantation  of  Varina,  where  the  Indian 
Princess  Pocahontas  lived  after  her  marriage  with 
the  Englishman,  John  Rolfe.  Its  fine  brick  colonial 
mansion  was  the  headquarters  for  the  exchange  of 
prisoners  during  the  Civil  War. 

The  brief  career  of  Pocahontas  is  the  great  romance 
of  the  first  settlement  of  Virginia.  She  was  the 
daughter  and  favorite  child  of  Powhatan,  her  name 
being  taken  from  a  running  brook,  and  meaning  the 
"  bright  streamlet  between  the  hills."  When  the  In 
dians  captured  Captain  John  Smith  she  was  about 
twelve  years  of  age.  He  made  friends  of  the  Indian 
children,  and  whittled  playthings  for  them,  so  that 
Pocahontas  became  greatly  interested  in  him,  and 
the  tale  of  her  saving  his  life  is  so  closely  interwoven 
with  the  early  history  of  the  colony  that  those  who 
declare  it  apocryphal  have  not  yet  been  able  to 
obliterate  it  from  our  school-books.  Smith  being 
afterwards  liberated,  Pocahontas  always  had  a  long 
ing  for  him,  was  the  medium  of  getting  the  colonists 


60     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

food,  warned  them  of  plots,  and  took  an  interest  in 
them  even  after  Smith  returned  to  England.  The 
tale  was  then  told  her  that  Smith  was  dead.  In 
1614  Pocahontas,  about  nineteen  years  old,  was  kid 
napped  and  taken  to  Jamestown,  in  order  to  carry 
out  a  plan  of  the  Governor  by  which  Powhatan,  to 
save  his  daughter,  would  make  friendship  with  the 
colony,  and  it  resulted  as  intended.  Pocahontas 
remained  several  weeks  in  the  colony,  made  the  ac 
quaintance  of  the  younger  people,  and  fell  in  love 
with  Master  John  Rolfe.  Pocahontas  returned  to 
her  father,  who  consented  to  the  marriage  j  she  was 
baptized  at  Jamestown  as  Lady  Rebecca,  and  her 
uncle  and  two  brothers  afterwards  attended  the 
wedding,  the  uncle  giving  the  Indian  bride  away  in 
the  little  church  at  Jamestown,  April  5,  1614.  A 
peace  of  several  years'  duration  was  the  consequence 
of  this  union.  Two  years  afterwards  Pocahontas  and 
her  husband  proceeded  to  England,  where  she  was 
an  object  of  the  greatest  interest  to  all  classes  of 
people,  and  was  presented  at  Court,  the  Queen 
warmly  receiving  her.  Captain  Smith  visited  her  in 
London,  and  after  saluting  him  she  turned  away  her 
face  and  hid  it  in  her  hands,  thus  continuing  for  over 
two  hours.  This  was  due  to  her  surprise  at  seeing 
Smith,  for  there  is  no  doubt  her  husband  was  a  party 
to  the  deception,  he  probably  thinking  she  would 
never  marry  him  while  Smith  was  living.  The 
winter  climate  of  England  was  too  severe  for  her, 


SHIELEY,  BERKELEY  AND  WESTOVEE.         61 

and  when  about  embarking  to  return  to  Virginia  she 
suddenly  died  at  Gravesend,  in  March,  1617,  aged 
about  twenty-two.  She  left  one  son,  Thomas  Rolfe, 
who  was  educated  in  London,  and  in  after  life  went 
to  Virginia,  where  he  became  a  man  of  note  and 
influence.  From  him  are  descended  the  famous 
children  of  Pocahontas — the  "  First  Families  of  Vir 
ginia" — the  Randolph,  Boiling,  Fleming  and  other 
families. 

SHIRLEY,    BERKELEY  AND   WESTOVER. 

The  winding  James  flows  by  Deep  Bottom  and 
Turkey  Bend,  and  one  elongated  neck  of  land  after 
another,  passing  the  noted  battlefield  of  Malvern 
Hill,  which  ended  General  McClelland  disastrous 
"  Seven  Days"  of  battles  and  retreat  from  the  Chicka- 
hominy  swamps  in  1862.  The  great  ridge  of  Mal 
vern  Hill  stretches  away  from  the  river  towards  the 
northwest,  and  in  that  final  battle  which  checked  the 
Confederate  pursuit  it  was  a  vast  amphitheatre  ter 
raced  with  tier  upon  tier  of  artillery,  the  gunboats  in 
the  river  joining  in  the  Union  defense.  Below,  on 
the  other  shore,  are  the  spacious  lowlands  of  Ber 
muda  Hundred,  where,  in  General  Grant's  significant 
phrase,  General  Butler  was  "  bottled  up."  Here,  on 
the  eastern  bank,  is  the  plantation  of  Shirley,  one  of 
the  famous  Virginian  settlements,  still  held  by  the 
descendants  of  its  colonial  owners — the  Carters.  The 
wide  and  attractive  old  brick  colonial  house,  with  its 


62     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

hipped  and  pointed  roof,  stands  behind  a  fringe  of 
trees  along  the  shore,  with  numerous  outbuildings 
constructed  around  a  quadrangle  behind.  It  is  built 
of  bricks  brought  out  from  England,  is  two  stories 
high,  with  a  capacious  front  porch,  and  around  the 
roof  are  rows  of  dormer  windows,  above  which  the 
roof  runs  from  all  sides  up  into  a  point  between  the 
tall  and  ample  chimneys.  The  southern  view  from 
Shirley  is  across  the  James  to  the  mouth  of  Appo- 
mattox  River  and  City  Point. 

The  Appomattox  originates  in  the  Blue  Ridge  near 
Lynchburg,  and  flows  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles 
eastward  to  the  James,  of  which  it  is  the  chief  tribu 
tary.  It  passes  Petersburg  twelve  miles  southwest 
of  its  point  of  union  with  the  James,  this  union  being 
at  a  high  bluff  thrust  out  between  the  rivers,  with 
abrupt  slopes  and  a  plateau  on  the  top,  which  is  well 
shaded.  Here  is  the  house — the  home  of  Dr.  Epps 
— used  by  General  Grant  as  his  headquarters  during 
the  operations  from  the  south  side  of  the  James 
against  Petersburg  and  Lee's  army  in  1864-65. 
Grant  occupied  two  little  log  cabins  on  top  of  the 
bluff,  just  east  of  the  house ;  one  his  dwelling  and 
the  other  his  office.  One  is  still  there  in  dilapida 
tion,  and  the  other  is  preserved  as  a  relic  in  Fair- 
mount  Park,  Philadelphia.  A  short  distance  away 
is  the  little  town  of  City  Point,  with  its  ruined 
wharves,  where  an  enormous  business  was  then  done 
in  landing  army  supplies.  To  the  eastward  the 


SHIELEY,  BEEKELEY  AND  WESTOVEE.         63 

James  flows,  a  steadily  broadening  stream,  past  the 
sloping  shores  on  the  northern  bank,  where,  at  Har 
rison's  Landing,  McClellan  rested  his  troops  after  the 
"  Seven  Days,"  having  retreated  there  from  the  bat 
tle  at  Malvern  Hill.  His  camps  occupied  the  planta 
tions  of  Berkeley  and  Westover,  the  former  having 
been  the  birthplace  of  General  William  Henry  Har 
rison,  who  was  President  of  the  United  States  for  a 
few  weeks  in  1841,  the  first  President  who  died  in 
office.  The  Berkeley  House  is  a  spacious  and  com 
fortable  mansion,  but  it  lost  its  grand  shade-trees 
during  the  war.  A  short  distance  farther  down  is 
the  quaint  old  Queen  Anne  mansion  of  red  brick,  with 
one  wing  only,  the  other  having  been  burnt  during 
the  war  j  with  pointed  roof  and  tall  chimneys,  stand 
ing  at  the  top  of  a  beautifully  sloping  bank — West- 
over  House,  the  most  famous  of  the  old  mansions  on 
the  James.  It  was  the  home  of  the  Byrds — grand 
father,  father  and  son — noted  in  Virginian  colonial 
history,  whose  arms  are  emblazoned  on  the  iron  gates, 
and  who  sleep  in  the  little  graveyard  alongside. 
The  most  renowned  of  these  was  the  second,  the 
"  Honourable  William  Byrd  of  Westover,  Esquire," 
who  was  the  founder  of  both  Richmond  and  Peters 
burg. 

William  Byrd  was  a  man  of  imposing  personal  ap 
pearance  and  the  highest  character,  and  his  full- 
length  portrait  in  flowing  periwig  and  lace  ruffles, 
after  Van  Dyck,  is  preserved  at  Lower  Brandon, 


64     AMEEICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

farther  down  the  river.  He  inherited  a  large  landed 
estate — over  fifty  thousand  acres — and  ample  for 
tune,  and  was  educated  in  England,  where  he  was 
called  to  the  bar  at  the  Middle  Temple,  and  made  a 
Fellow  of  the  Koyal  Society.  The  inscription  on 
his  Westover  tomb  tells  that  he  was  a  friend  of  the 
learned  Earl  of  Orrery.  He  held  high  offices  in  Vir 
ginia,  and  possessed  the  largest  private  library  then 
in  America.  In  connection  with  one  Peter  Jones,  in 
1733,  he  laid  out  both  Richmond  and  Petersburg  on 
lands  he  owned,  at  the  head  of  navigation  respec 
tively  on  the  James  and  the  Appomattox.  He  left 
profuse  journals,  published  since  as  the  Westover 
Manuscripts,  and  they  announce  that  Petersburg  was 
gratefully  named  in  honor  of  his  companion-founder, 
Peter  Jones,  and  that  Richmond's  name  came  from 
Byrd's  vivid  recollection  of  the  outlook  from  Rich 
mond  Hill  over  the  Thames  in  England,  which  he 
found  strikingly  reproduced  in  the  soft  hills  and  far- 
stretching  meadows  adjoining  the  rapids  of  the 
James,  with  the  curving  sweep  of  the  river  as  it 
flowed  away  from  view  behind  the  glimmering  woods. 
He  died  in  1744.  Westover  House  was  McClellan's 
headquarters  in  1862.  The  estates  have  gone  from 
Byrd's  descendants,  but  the  house  has  been  com 
pletely  restored,  and  is  one  of  the  loveliest  spots  on 
the  James.  Major  Augustus  Drewry,  its  recent 
owner,  died  in  July,  1899,  at  an  advanced  age. 
Coggins  Point  projects  opposite  Westover,  and  noted 


THE  COLONY  OF  JAMESTOWN.  65 

plantations  and  mansions  line  the  river  banks,  bear 
ing,  with  the  counties,  well-known  English  names. 
Here  is  the  ruined  stone  Fort  Powhatan,  a  relic  of 
the  War  of  1812,  with  the  Unionist  earthworks  of 
1864-65  on  the  bluff  above  it.  Then  we  get  among 
the  lowland  swamps,  where  the  cypress  trees  elevate 
their  conical  knees  and  roots  above  the  water.  The 
James  has  become  a  wide  estuary,  and  the  broad 
Chickahominy  flows  in  between  low  shores,  draining 
the  swamps  east  of  Richmond  and  the  James.  This 
was  the  "  lick  at  which  turkeys  were  plenty,"  the 
Indians  thus  recognizing  in  the  name  of  the  river 
the  favorite  resort  of  the  wild  turkey. 

THE   COLONY   OF   JAMESTOWN. 

We  have  now  come  to  the  region  of  earliest  Eng 
lish  settlement  in  America,  where  Newport  and 
Smith,  in  1607,  planted  their  colony  of  Jamestown 
upon  a  low  yellow  bluff  on  the  northern  river  bank. 
It  is  thirty-two  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  James 
River,  and  the  bluff,  by  the  action  of  the  water,  has 
been  made  an  island.  The  location  was  probably 
selected  because  this  furnished  protection  from  at 
tacks.  The  later  encroachments  of  the  river  have 
swept  away  part  of  the  site  of  the  early  settlement, 
and  a  portion  of  the  old  church  tower  and  some 
tombstones  are  now  the  only  relics  of  the  ancient 
town.  The  ruins  of  the  tower  can  be  seen  on  top  of 
the  bluff,  almost  overgrown  with  moss  and  vines. 
VOL.  L— 5 


66     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

Behind  is  the  wall  of  the  graveyard  where  the  first 
settlers  were  buried.  A  couple  of  little  cabins  are 
the  only  present  signs  of  settlement,  the  mansion  of 
the  Jamestown  plantation  being  some  distance  down 
the  river. 

When  the  English  colony  first  came  to  Jamestown 
in  1607,  they  were  hunting  for  gold  and  for  the 
"northwest  passage"  to  the  East  Indies.  In  fact, 
most  of  the  American  colonizing  began  with  these 
objects.  They  had  an  idea  in  Europe  that  America 
was  profuse  in  gold  and  gems.  In  1605  a  play  of 
"  Eastward,  Ho  "  was  performed  in  London,  in  which 
one  of  the  characters  said:  "I  tell  thee  golde  is 
more  plentifull  in  Virginia  than  copper  is  with  us, 
and  for  as  much  redde  copper  as  I  can  bring,  I  will 
have  thrice  the  weight  in  golde.  All  their  pannes 
and  pottes  are  pure  gould,  and  all  the  chaines  with 
which  they  chaine  up  their  streetes  are  massie  gould  j 
all  the  prisoners  they  take  are  fettered  in  golde  j  and 
for  rubies  and  diamonds  they  goe  forth  in  holidays 
and  gather  them  by  the  seashore  to  hang  on  their 
children's  coates  and  sticke  in  their  children's  caps 
as  commonally  as  our  children  wear  saffron,  gilt 
brooches,  and  groates  with  hoales  in  them."  The 
whole  party,  on  landing  at  Jamestown,  started  to 
hunt  for  gold.  Smith  wrote  that  among  the  English 
colonists  there  was  "  no  talk,  no  hope,  no  work,  but 
dig  gold,  wash  gold,  refine  gold,  bade  gold."  They 
found  some  shining  pyrites  that  deceived  them,  and 


THE  COLONY  OF  JAMESTOWN.  67 

therefore  the  first  ship  returning  to  England  carried 
away  a  cargo  of  shining  dirt,  found  entirely  worth 
less  on  arrival.  The  second  ship,  after  a  long  de 
bate,  they  more  wisely  sent  back  with  a  cargo  of 
cedar.  They  hunted  for  the  "  northwest  passage," 
first  going  up  the  James  to  the  falls  at  the  site  of 
Richmond,  but  returning  disappointed.  It  was  this 
same  hunt  for  a  route  to  the  Pacific  which  after 
wards  took  Smith  up  the  Chickahominy,  where 
he  got  among  the  swamps  and  was  captured  by  the 
Indians. 

The  Jamestown  colonists  met  with  great  dis 
couragements.  Most  of  them  were  unfitted  for  pio 
neers,  and  the  neighboring  swamps  gave  them  mala 
ria  in  the  hot  summer,  so  that  nearly  half  perished. 
Smith,  by  his  courage  and  enterprise,  however,  kept 
the  colony  alive  and  took  charge,  being  their  leader 
until  captured  by  the  Indians,  and  also  afterwards, 
until  his  return  to  England.  Among  the  first  con 
structions  at  Jamestown  were  a  storehouse  and  a 
church.  These,  however,  were  soon  burnt,  and  a 
second  church  and  storehouse  were  erected  in  Sep 
tember,  1608.  This  church  was  like  a  barn  in  ap 
pearance,  the  base  being  supported  by  crotched 
stakes,  and  the  walls  and  roof  were  made  of  rafts, 
sedge  and  earth,  which  soon  decayed.  When  Smith 
left  Jamestown  for  England  in  1609  the  place  con 
tained  about  sixty  houses,  and  was  surrounded  by  a 
stockade.  Smith  early  saw  the  necessity  of  raising 


68     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

food,  and  determined  to  begin  the  growing  of  maize, 
or  Indian  corn.  Consequently,  early  in  1608  he  pre 
vailed  upon  two  Indians  he  had  captured  to  teach  the 
method  of  planting  the  corn.  Under  their  direction 
a  tract  of  about  forty  acres  was  planted  in  squares, 
with  intervals  of  four  feet  between  the  holes  which 
received  the  Indian  corn  for  seed.  This  crop  grew 
and  was  partly  harvested,  a  good  deal  of  it,  however, 
being  eaten  green.  Thus  the  Indian  invented  the 
method  of  corn-planting  universally  observed  in  the 
United  States,  and  this  crop  of  forty  acres  of  1608 
was  the  first  crop  of  the  great  American  cereal  grown 
by  white  men.  Wheat  brought  out  from  England 
was  first  planted  at  Jamestown  in  1618  on  a  field  of 
about  thirty  acres,  this  being  the  first  wheat  crop 
grown  in  the  United  States. 

Captain  John  Smith,  before  he  left  Jamestown, 
estimated  that  there  were  about  fifty-five  hundred 
Indians  within  a  radius  of  sixty  miles  around  the 
colony,  and  in  his  works  he  enumerates  the  various 
tribes.  Describing  their  mode  of  life,  he  wrote  that 
they  grew  fat  or  lean  according  to  the  season.  When 
food  was  abundant,  he  said,  they  stuffed  themselves 
night  and  day  ;  and,  unless  unforeseen  emergencies 
compelled  them  to  arouse,  they  dropped  asleep  as 
soon  as  their  stomachs  were  filled.  So  ravenous 
were  their  appetites  that  a  colonist  employing  an  In 
dian  was  compelled  to  allow  him  a  quantity  of  food 
double  that  given  an  English  laborer.  In  a  period  of 


THE  COLONY  OF  JAMESTOWN.  69 

want  or  hardship,  when  no  food  was  to  be  had,  the 
warrior  simply  drew  his  belt  more  tightly  about  his 
waist  to  try  and  appease  the  pangs  of  hunger.  The 
Indians,  when  the  colonists  arrived,  were  found  to 
divide  the  year  into  five  seasons,  according  to  its 
varying  character.  These  were,  first,  Cattapeuk, 
the  season  of  blossoms ;  second,  Cohattayough,  the 
season  when  the  sun  rode  highest  in  the  heavens  5 
third,  Nepenough,  the  season  when  the  ears  of  maize 
were  large  enough  to  be  roasted  ;  fourth,  Taquetock, 
the  season  of  the  falling  leaves,  when  the  maize  was 
gathered  j  and  fifth,  Cohonk,  the  season  when  long 
lines  of  wild  geese  appeared,  flying  from  the  north, 
uttering  the  cry  suggesting  the  name,  thus  heralding 
the  winter. 

The  colony  was  very  unfortunate,  and  in  1617 
was  reduced  to  only  five  or  six  buildings.  The 
church  had  then  decayed  and  fallen  to  the  ground, 
and  a  third  church,  fifty  by  twenty  feet,  was  after 
wards  built.  Additional  settlers  were  sent  out  from 
England  in  the  next  two  years,  and  the  Virginians 
were  granted  a  government  of  their  own,  the  new 
Governor,  Sir  George  Yeardley,  arriving  in  the  spring 
of  1619.  The  Company  in  London  also  sent  them  a 
communication  "  that  those  cruell  laws,  by  which  the 
ancient  planters  had  soe  long  been  governed,  were 
now  abrogated  in  favor  of  those  free  laws  which  his 
majesties  subjects  lived  under  in  Englande."  It 
continued  by  stating  "  That  the  planters  might  have 


70     AMEEICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

a  hande  in  the  governing  of  themselves  yt  was  granted 
that  a  generall  assemblie  should  be  held  yearly  once, 
whereat  to  be  present  the  governor  and  counsell  with 
two  burgesses  from  each  plantation,  freely  to  be 
elected  by  the  inhabitants  thereof,  this  assemblie  to 
have  power  to  make  and  ordaine  whatsoever  laws 
and  orders  should  by  them  be  thought  good  and 
profitable  for  their  subsistence."  The  Governor  con 
sequently  summoned  the  first  "  House  of  Burgesses" 
in  Virginia,  which  met  at  Jamestown,  July  30,  1619, 
the  first  legislative  body  in  America.  Twenty-two 
members  took  their  seats  in  the  new  church  at  James 
town.  They  are  described  as  wearing  bright-colored 
silk  and  velvet  coats,  with  starched  ruffs,  and  as 
having  kept  their  hats  on  as  in  the  English  House  of 
Commons.  The  Governor  sat  in  the  choir,  and  with 
him  were  several  leading  men  who  had  been  ap 
pointed  by  the  Company  on  the  Governor's  Council. 
They  passed  various  laws,  chiefly  about  tobacco  and 
taxes,  and  sent  them  to  England,  where  the  Company 
confirmed  them,  and  afterwards,  in  1621,  granted  the 
"  Great  Charter,"  which  was  the  first  Constitution  of 
Virginia. 

The  colonists  got  into  trouble  with  the  Indians  in 
1622,  and  having  killed  an  Indian  who  murdered  a 
white  man,  Jamestown  was  attacked  and  the  inhabit 
ants  massacred,  three  hundred  and  forty-five  being 
killed.  Governor  Butler,  who  visited  the  place  not 
long  after  the  massacre,  wrote  that  the  houses  were 


THE  COLONY  OF  JAMESTOWN.  71 

the  "  worst  in  the  world,"  and  that  the  most  wretched 
cottages  in  England  were  equal,  if  not  superior,  in 
appearance  and  comfort  to  the  finest  dwellings  in  the 
colony.  The  first  houses  were  mostly  of  bark,  imi 
tating  those  of  the  Indian ;  and,  there  being  neither 
sawmills  to  prepare  planks  nor  nails  to  fasten  them, 
the  later  constructions  were  usually  of  logs  plastered 
with  mud,  with  thatched  roofs.  The  more  preten 
tious  of  these  were  built  double — "  two  pens  and  a 
passage,"  as  they  have  been  described.  As  late  as 
1675  Jamestown  had  only  a  few  families,  with  not 
more  than  seventy-five  population.  Labor  was 
always  in  demand  there,  and  at  first  the  laborers 
were  brought  out  from  England.  There  was  no 
money,  and  having  early  learnt  to  raise  tobacco  from 
the  Indians,  this  became  the  chief  crop,  and,  being 
sure  of  sale  in  England,  became  the  standard  of  value. 
Tobacco  was  the  great  export,  twenty  thousand 
pounds  being  exported  in  1619,  forty  thousand  in 
1620  and  sixty  thousand  in  1622.  Everything  was 
valued  in  tobacco,  and  this  continued  the  practical 
currency  for  the  first  century.  They  imported  a 
lot  of  copper,  however,  with  which  to  make  small 
coins  for  circulation.  As  the  tobacco  fluctuated  in 
price  in  England,  it  made  a  very  unstable  standard 
of  value.  Gradually,  afterwards,  large  amounts  of 
gold  and  silver  coin  came  into  Virginia  in  payment 
for  produce,  thus  supplanting  the  tobacco  as  a 
standard. 


72     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 
THE   VIRGINIAN   PLANTERS. 

Land  was  cheap  in  Virginia  in  the  early  days. 
In  1662  the  King  of  Mattapony  sold  his  village  and 
five  thousand  acres  to  the  colonists  for  fifty  match- 
coats.  During  the  seventeenth  century  the  value 
of  land  reckoned  in  tobacco,  as  sold  in  England, 
averaged  for  cleared  ground  about  four  shillings  per 
acre,  the  shilling  then  having  a  purchasing  power 
equal  to  a  dollar  now.  It  was  at  this  time  that  most 
of  the  great  Virginian  estates  along  James  River 
were  formed,  the  colonists  securing  in  some  cases 
large  grants.  Thus,  John  Carter  of  Lancaster  took 
up  18,570  acres,  John  Page  5000  acres,  Richard 
Lee  12,000  acres,  William  Byrd  15,000  acres,  after 
wards  largely  increased  5  Robert  Beverley  37,000 
acres  and  William  Fitzhugh  over  50,000  acres. 
These  were  the  founders  of  some  of  the  most  famous 
Virginian  families.  The  demand  for  labor  naturally 
brought  Virginia  within  the  market  of  the  slave 
trader,  but  very  few  negroes  were  there  in  the  earlier 
period.  The  first  negroes  who  arrived  in  Virginia 
were  disembarked  at  Jamestown  from  a  Dutch  pri 
vateer  in  1619 — twenty  Africans.  In  1622  there 
were  twenty-two  there,  two  more  having  landed ; 
but  it  is  noted  that  no  negro  was  killed  in  the  James 
town  massacre.  In  1649  there  were  only  three 
hundred  negroes  in  Virginia,  and  in  1671  there  were 
about  two  thousand.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  seven- 


THE  VIKGINIAN  PLANTEKS.  73 

teenth  century  the  arrivals  of  negro  slaves  became 
more  frequent — labor  being  in  demand.  The  records 
show  that  the  planters  had  great  difficulty  in  supply 
ing  them  with  names,  everything  being  ransacked 
for  the  purpose — mythology,  history  and  geography 
— and  hence  the  peculiar  names  they  have  conferred 
in  some  cases  on  their  descendants.  In  1640  a 
robust  African  man  when  sold  commanded  2700 
pounds  of  tobacco,  and  a  female  2500  pounds,  aver 
aging,  at  the  then  price  of  tobacco,  about  seventeen 
pounds  sterling  for  the  men.  Prices  afterwards  ad 
vanced  to  forty  pounds  sterling  for  the  men.  In 
1699  all  newly  arrived  slaves  were  taxed  twenty 
shillings  per  head,  paid  by  the  master  of  the  vessel. 

As  the  colony  developed,  the  typical  dwelling  be 
came  a  framed  log  building  of  moderate  size,  with  a 
big  chimney  at  each  end,  there  being  no  cellar  and 
the  house  resting  on  the  ground.  The  upper  and 
lower  floors  were  each  divided  into  two  rooms.  Such 
a  house,  built  in  1679,  measuring  forty  by  twenty 
feet,  cost  twelve  hundred  pounds  of  tobacco.  Finally, 
when  more  prosperity  came  in  the  eighteenth  cen 
tury,  the  houses  were  developed  and  enlarged  into 
more  pretentious  edifices,  built  of  bricks  brought  out 
from  England.  These  were  the  great  colonial  houses 
of  the  wealthy  planters,  so  many  of  which  exist 
until  the  present  day.  The  most  prosperous  time  in 
colonial  Virginia  was  the  period  from  1710  until 
1770.  The  exports  of  tobacco  to  England  and  flour 


74     AMEEICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

and  other  produce  to  the  West  Indies  made  the  for 
tunes  of  the  planters,  so  that  their  vast  estates  and 
large  retinues  of  slaves  made  them  the  lordly  barons 
whose  fame  spread  throughout  Europe,  while  their 
wealth  enabled  them  to  gather  all  the  luxuries  of  fur 
niture  and  ornament  for  their  houses  then  attainable. 
It  was  in  these  noble  colonial  mansions,  surrounded 
by  regiments  of  negro  servants,  that  the  courtly  Vir 
ginians  of  the  olden  time  dispensed  a  princely  hos 
pitality,  limited  only  by  their  ability  to  secure  what 
ever  the  world  produced.  The  stranger  was  always 
welcome  at  the  bountiful  board,  and  the  slave  children 
grew  up  amid  plenty,  hardly  knowing  what  work  was. 
This  went  on  with  more  or  less  variation  until  the 
Civil  War  made  its  tremendous  upheaval,  which 
scattered  both  whites  and  blacks.  But  the  typical 
Virginian  is  unchanged,  continuing  as  open-hearted 
and  hospitable,  though  his  means  now  are  much  less. 
To  all  he  has,  the  guest  is  welcome  j  but  it  is  usually 
with  a  tinge  of  regret  that  he  recalls  the  good  old 
time  when  he  might  have  done  more. 

HAMPTON  ROADS  AND  FORTRESS   MONROE. 

The  constantly  broadening  estuary  of  the  James 
assumes  almost  the  proportions  of  an  inland  sea,  and 
in  the  bays  encircled  by  the  low  shores  are  planted 
the  seed  oysters,  which  are  gathered  by  fleets  of 
small  vessels  for  transplanting  into  salt-water  beds. 
In  front,  near  the  mouth  of  the  river,  is  thrust  out 


HAMPTON  ROADS  AND  FORTRESS  MONROE.      75 

the  long  point  of  Newport  News,  with  its  grain  ele 
vators  and  shipyards,  dry-docks  and  iron-works,  the 
great  port  of  the  James  River,  which  is  the  busy  ter 
minal  of  railways  coming  from  the  West.  Here  is  a 
town  of  thirty  thousand  people.  It  was  almost  op 
posite,  that  in  the  spring  of  1862  the  Confederate 
ram  "  Merrimac  "  (then  called  the  "  Virginia  "),  ar 
mored  with  railroad  rails,  came  suddenly  out  from 
Norfolk,  and  sank  or  disabled  the  American  wooden 
naval  vessels  in  Hampton  Roads ;  the  next  day, 
however,  being  unexpectedly  encountered  by  the 
novel  little  turret  iron-clad  "Monitor,"  which  had 
most  opportunely  arrived  from  the  upper  Hudson 
River,  where  Ericsson  had  built  her.  The  "  Merri 
mac"  was  herself  soon  disabled  and  compelled  to 
retire.  This  timely  and  dramatic  appearance  of 
"  the  little  Yankee  cheese-box  on  a  raft "  made  a 
sudden  and  unforeseen  revolution  in  all  the  naval 
methods  and  architecture  of  the  world.  Around  the 
point  of  Newport  News  the  James  River  debouches 
into  one  of  the  finest  harbors  of  the  Atlantic  Coast, 
Hampton  Roads,  named  from  the  town  of  Hampton 
on  the  northern  shore.  This  is  the  location  of  a 
Veteran  Soldiers7  Home,  with  two  thousand  inmates, 
an  extensive  Soldiers'  Cemetery,  and  of  the  spacious 
buildings  of  the  Normal  and  Agricultural  Institute  for 
Negroes  and  Indians,  where  there  are  eight  to  nine 
hundred  scholars,  this  being  a  foundation  originally 
established  by  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  the  chief  ob- 


76     AMERICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

ject  being  the  training  of  teachers  for  colored  and 
Indian  schools. 

The  little  peninsula  of  Old  Point  Comfort,  which 
makes  the  northern  side  of  the  mouth  of  the  James 
and  juts  out  into  Chesapeake  Bay,  has  upon  it  the 
largest  and  most  elaborate  fortification  in  the  United 
States — Fortress  Monroe.  It  is  related  that  when 
Newport  and  Smith  first  entered  the  bay  in  1607, 
and  were  desirous  of  ascending  the  James,  they 
coasted  along  the  southern  shore  and  found  only 
shallow  water.  Starting  out  in  a  boat  to  hunt  for  a 
channel  up  which  their  ships  could  pass,  they  rowed 
over  to  the  northern  shore  and  discovered  deeper 
water  entering  the  James,  close  to  this  little  peninsula, 
there  being  twelve  fathoms  depth, which  so  encouraged 
Smith  that  it  confirmed  him  in  naming  the  place 
Point  Comfort.  This  channel,  close  inshore,  could  be 
readily  defended,  as  it  was  the  only  passage  for  vessels 
of  any  draft,  and  consequently  when  the  colony  got 
established  at  Jamestown  they  built  Fort  Algernon  at 
Point  Comfort  to  protect  the  entrance  to  the  James. 
In  1611  this  fort  was  described  as  consisting  of  stock 
ades  and  posts,  without  stone  or  brick,  and  containing 
seven  small  iron  guns,  with  a  garrison  of  forty  men. 

After  the  British  invasion  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  in 
1814,  when  they  burnt  the  Capitol  and  White  House 
at  Washington,  it  was  quickly  decided  that  no  foreign 
foe  should  be  again  permitted  to  do  such  a  thing,  and 
that  an  elaborate  work  should  be  built  to  defend  the 


HAMPTON  KOADS  AND  FOKTEESS  MONKOE.      77 

entrance  to  the  bay.  General  Simon  Bernard,  one 
of  Napoleon's  noted  engineers,  offered  his  services  to 
the  United  States  after  the  downfall  of  the  Emperor, 
and  he  was  placed  in  charge,  with  the  duty  of  con 
structing,  at  the  mouth  of  James  River,  a  fortification 
which  would  command  the  channel  into  that  river 
and  to  the  Norfolk  Navy  Yard,  and  at  the  same  time 
be  a  base  of  operations  against  any  fleet  attempting 
to  enter  the  bay  and  menace  the  roadstead.  Bernard 
built  in  1819,  and  several  following  years,  an  elabo 
rate  fortress,  with  a  broad  moat  and  outlying  water- 
battery,  enclosing  eighty  acres,  the  ramparts  being 
over  two  miles  in  circumference.  It  was  called  Fort 
ress  Monroe,  after  the  then  President  James  Monroe, 
of  Virginia.  Out  upon  an  artificial  island,  known  as 
the  Rip-raps,  built  upon  a  shoal  some  two  miles  off 
shore,  and  in  the  harbor  entrance,  the  smaller  works 
of  Fort  Wool  were  subsequently  constructed,  and  the 
two  make  a  complete  defense  for  the  Chesapeake  Bay 
entrance.  During  all  the  years  this  fortress  has  ex 
isted  it  has  never  had  occasion  to  fire  a  gun  at  an 
enemy,  but  its  location  and  strength  were  invaluable 
to  the  North,  who  held  it  during  the  Civil  War.  It 
is  the  seat  of  the  Artillery  School  of  the  army.  To 
the  southward,  at  the  waterside,  are  the  hotels  of  Old 
Point  Comfort,  which  is  one  of  the  favorite  seaside 
watering-places  of  the  South.  In  front  is  the  great 
Hampton  roadstead,  usually  containing  fleets  of  wind- 
bound  vessels  and  some  men-of-war. 


78     AMEEICA,  PICTUBESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 


NORFOLK   AND   ITS   NEIGHBORHOOD. 

Over  on  the  southern  side  of  Chesapeake  Bay  is 
the  Elizabeth  River,  in  reality  a  tidal  arm  of  the  sea, 
curving  around  from  the  south  to  the  east,  and  hav 
ing  Norfolk  on  its  northern  bank  and  Portsmouth  op 
posite.  The  country  round  about  is  flat  and  low- 
lying,  and  far  up  the  river  are  Gosport  and  the 
Navy  Yard,  the  largest  possessed  by  the  United 
States.  There  are  probably  sixty  thousand  popula 
tion  in  the  three  towns.  The  immediate  surround 
ings  are  good  land  and  mostly  market  gardens,  but 
to  the  southward  spreads  the  great  Dismal  Swamp, 
covering  about  sixteen  hundred  square  miles,  in 
tersected  by  various  canals,  and  yielding  cypress, 
juniper  and  other  timber.  It  is  partly  drained  by 
the  Nansemond  River,  on  which,  at  the  edge  of  the 
swamp,  is  the  little  town  of  Suffolk,  whence  the 
Jericho  Run  Canal  leads  into  Lake  Drummond,  a 
body  of  water  covering  eighteen  square  miles  and 
twenty-one  feet  above  tidewater.  Mrs.  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowe  has  woven  much  of  the  romance  of 
this  weird  fastness  and  swamp  into  her  tale  of  Dred. 
The  Dismal  Swamp  Canal,  twenty-two  miles  long, 
and  recently  enlarged  and  deepened,  passes  through 
it  from  Elizabeth  River  to  the  Pasquotank  River  of 
North  Carolina,  and  the  Albemarle  Canal  also  con 
nects  with  Currituck  Sound.  This  big  swamp  was 
first  explored  by  Colonel  William  Byrd,  of  Westover, 


NOKFOLK  AND  ITS  NEIGHBOKHOOD.     79 

in  1728,  when  he  surveyed  the  boundary  between 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina. 

All  about  the  Norfolk  wharves  are  cotton  bales, 
much  timber,  tobacco  and  naval  stores,  and  immense 
quantities  of  food  and  garden  products,  not  forget 
ting  a  profusion  of  "  goobers,"  all  awaiting  shipment, 
for  this,  next  to  Savannah,  is  the  greatest  export 
port  for  food  and  other  supplies  on  the  Southern  At 
lantic.  The  u  goober,"  or  peanut,  is  the  special 
crop  of  this  part  of  Virginia  and  Carolina.  The 
cotton  compresses  do  a  lively  business  in  the  cotton 
season,  the  powerful  hydraulic  pressure  squeezing 
the  bale  to  barely  one-fourth  its  former  size,  and 
binding  it  firmly  with  iron  bands,  thus  giving  the 
steamers  increased  cargo.  In  the  spring  the  ship 
ment  North  of  early  fruits  and  vegetables  is  enor 
mous,  vast  surfaces  being  devoted  to  their  growth, 
the  strawberry  beds  especially  covering  many  acres. 
The  oyster  trade  is  also  large.  The  settlement  of 
Norfolk  began  in  1680,  and  in  1736  it  was  made  a 
borough.  Portsmouth  was  established  later,  but  the 
starting  of  the  navy  yard  there,  which  has  become 
so  extensive,  gave  it  great  impetus.  Portsmouth 
claims  that  in  the  Civil  War,  in  proportion  to  size,  it 
sent  more  soldiers  to  the  Southern  armies  and  had 
more  dead  than  any  other  city.  The  capacious  naval 
hospital  and  its  fine  grove  of  trees  front  Portsmouth 
towards  the  harbor.  Norfolk  has  St.  Paul's  Church, 
founded  in  1730,  as  its  chief  Revolutionary  relic — an 


80     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

ancient  building,  with  an  old  graveyard,  and  having 
in  its  steeple  the  indentation  made  by  a  cannon-shot, 
when  a  British  fleet  in  1776  bombarded  and  partly 
burnt  the  town.  An  old-fashioned  round  ball  rests 
in  the  orifice ;  not,  however,  the  one  originally  sent 
there  by  the  cannoneers.  Relic-hunters  visiting  the 
place  have  a  habit  of  clandestinely  appropriating  the 
cannon-ball,  so  the  sexton,  with  an  eye  to  business, 
has  some  on  hand  ready  to  put  into  the  cavity,  and 
thus  maintain  the  old  church's  patriotic  reputation. 
A  novel  sight  in  Norfolk  is  its  market,  largely  served 
by  negroes — old  "  mammies  "  with  bright  bandannas 
tied  about  their  heads  and  guarding  piles  of  luscious 
fruits ;  funny  little  pickaninnies  who  execute  all  man 
ner  of  athletic  gyrations  for  stray  pennies,  queer  old 
market  wagons,  profusions  of  flowers,  and  such  a  col 
lection  of  the  good  things  of  life,  all  set  in  a  picture 
so  attractive  that  the  sight  is  long  remembered. 

THE   EASTERN   SHORE. 

Northward  from  Old  Point  Comfort  and  Hampton 
Roads  the  great  Chesapeake  Bay  stretches  for  two 
hundred  miles.  It  bisects  Virginia  and  Maryland, 
and  receives  the  rivers  of  both  States,  extending 
within  fourteen  miles  of  Pennsylvania,  where  it  has 
as  its  head  the  greatest  river  of  all,  the  Susquehanna, 
which  the  Indians  appropriately  called  their  "  great 
island  river."  Its  shores  enclose  many  islands,  and 
are  indented  with  innumerable  bays  and  inlets,  the 


THE  EASTERN  SHOEE.  81 

alluvial  soils  being  readily  adapted  to  fruit  and  vege 
table  growing,  and  its  multitudes  of  shallows  being 
almost  throughout  a  vast  oyster  bed.  It  has,  all 
about,  the  haunts  of  wild  fowl  and  the  nestling-places 
of  delicious  fish.  These  shores  were  the  home — 
first  on  the  eastern  side  and  afterwards  on  the 
western — of  the  Nanticokes,  or  "  tidewater  Indians/' 
who  ultimately  migrated  to  New  York  to  join  the 
Iroquois  or  Five  Nations,  making  that  Confederacy 
the  "  Six  Nations."  From  Cape  Charles,  guarding 
the  northern  entrance  to  the  Bay,  extends  northward 
the  well-known  peninsula  of  the  "  Eastern  Shore,"  a 
land  of  market  gardens,  strawberries  and  peaches, 
which  feeds  the  Northern  cities,  and  having  its  rail 
road,  a  part  of  the  Pennsylvania  system,  running  for 
miles  over  the  level  surface  in  a  flat  country,  which 
enabled  the  builders  to  lay  a  mathematically  straight 
pair  of  rails  for  nearly  ninety  miles,  said  to  be  the 
longest  railway  tangent  in  existence. 

Chesapeake  Bay  is  now  patrolled  by  the  oyster 
fleets  of  both  Virginia  and  Maryland,  each  State 
having  an  "  oyster  navy "  to  protect  its  beds  from 
predatory  forays ;  and  occasionally  there  arises  an 
"  oyster  war "  which  expands  to  the  dignity  of  a 
newspaper  sensation,  and  sometimes  results  in  blood 
shed.  The  wasteful  methods  of  oyster-dredging  are 
said  to  be  destroying  the  beds,  and  they  are  much 
less  valuable  than  formerly,  although  measures  are 
being  projected  for  their  protection  and  restoration 
VOL.  I. —6 


82     AMEEICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

under  Government  auspices.  We  are  told  that  a 
band  of  famished  colonists  who  went  in  the  early 
days  to  beg  corn  from  the  Indians  first  discovered 
the  value  of  the  oyster.  The  Indians  were  roasting 
what  looked  like  stones  in  their  fire,  and  invited  the 
hungry  colonists  to  partake.  The  opened  shells  dis 
closed  the  succulent  bivalve,  and  the  white  men 
found  there  was  other  good  food  besides  corn.  All 
the  sites  of  extinct  Indian  villages  along  the  Chesa 
peake  were  marked  by  piles  of  oyster  shells,  show 
ing  they  had  been  eaten  from  time  immemorial. 

The  English  colonists  at  Jamestown  were  told  by 
the  Indians  of  the  wonders  of  the  "  Mother  of 
Waters,"  as  they  called  Chesapeake  Bay,  about  the 
many  great  rivers  pouring  into  it,  the  various  tribes 
on  its  shores,  and  the  large  fur  trade  that  could  be 
opened  with  them ;  so  that  the  colonists  gradually 
came  to  the  opinion  that  the  upper  region  of  the 
great  bay  was  the  choicest  part  of  their  province. 
Smith  explored  it  and  made  a  map  in  1609,  and 
others  followed  him,  setting  up  trading-stations  upon 
the  rivers  as  far  as  the  Potomac  and  the  Patuxent. 
Soon  this  new  country  and  its  fur  trade  attracted  the 
cupidity  of  William  Claiborne,  who  had  been  ap 
pointed  Treasurer  of  Virginia,  and  was  sent  out 
when  King  James  I.  made  it  a  royal  province,  the 
king  telling  them  they  would  find  Claiborne  "  a  per 
son  of  qualitie  and  trust."  He  was  also  agent  for  a 
London  Company  the  king  had  chartered  to  make 


CALVEET  AND  MAEYLAND.  83 

discoveries  and  engage  in  the  fur  trade.  Claiborne, 
in  1631,  established  a  settlement  on  Kent  Island,  the 
largest  in  the  bay,  about  opposite  Annapolis,  and  one 
hundred  and  thirty  miles  north  of  the  James,  which 
thrived  as  a  trading  station  and  next  year  sent  its 
burgesses  to  the  Assembly  at  Jamestown. 

CALVERT   AND    MARYLAND. 

Sir  George  Calvert,  who  had  been  private  secre 
tary  to  Lord  Cecil  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign,  and 
also  held  office  under  King  James,  upon  retiring  was 
created  Baron  of  Baltimore  in  Ireland,  and  purchased 
part  of  Newfoundland,  which  he  called  Avalon.  He 
sent  out  a  colony  and  afterwards  visited  Avalon  j  but, 
being  discouraged  by  the  cold  climate,  he  abandoned 
the  colony,  and  persuaded  the  next  king,  Charles  I., 
to  give  him  land  on  both  sides  of  Chesapeake  Bay 
north  of  the  Potomac.  Before  the  deed  was  signed, 
however,  Baron  Baltimore  died,  and  his  son,  Cecilius 
Calvert,  succeeded  him  and  received  the  grant.  This 
was  one  of  the  greatest  gifts  of  land  ever  made,  ex 
tending  northward  from  the  Potomac  River,  includ 
ing  all  Maryland,  a  broad  strip  of  what  is  now  Penn 
sylvania,  all  of  Delaware,  and  a  good  deal  of  West 
Virginia.  The  charter  made  the  grant  a  Palatinate, 
giving  Lord  Baltimore  and  his  heirs  absolute  control 
of  the  country,  freedom  to  trade  with  the  whole 
world  and  make  his  own  laws,  or  allow  his  colonists 
to  do  this.  The  price  was  the  delivery  of  two  In- 


84     AMEKICA,  PICTUBESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

dian  arrows  a  year  at  the  Castle  of  Windsor,  and 
one-fifth  of  all  the  gold  and  silver  found.  This  grant 
was  dated  on  June  20,  1632,  and  the  name  first  in 
tended  by  Calvert  for  his  colony  was  Crescentia; 
but  in  the  charter  it  was  styled  Terra  Marice,  after 
Queen  Henrietta  Maria,  or  "Mary's  Land."  The 
expedition  came  out  the  following  winter,  leaving  the 
Isle  of  Wight  in  November  in  two  vessels,  named 
the  "Ark"  and  the  "Dove,"  under  command  of 
Leonard  Calvert,  CeciPs  brother,  there  being  two 
hundred  emigrants,  nearly  all  Roman  Catholics,  like 
their  chief,  and  mostly  gentlemen  of  fortune  and  re 
spectability.  While  the  colony  was  Catholic,  Cecil 
Calvert  inculcated  complete  toleration.  In  his  letter 
of  instructions  he  wrote  :  "  Preserve  unity  and  peace 
on  shipboard  amongst  all  passengers  j  and  suffer  no 
offence  to  be  given  to  any  of  the  Protestants ;  for 
this  end  cause  all  acts  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion 
to  be  done  as  privately  as  may  be  •"  and  he  also  told 
his  brother,  the  Governor,  "  to  treat  all  Protestants 
with  as  much  mildness  and  favor  as  justice  would 
permit,"  this  to  be  observed  "  at  land  as  well  as  at 
sea."  In  March,  1633,  they  entered  the  Chesapeake 
and  sailed  up  to  the  Potomac  River,  landing  at  an 
island  and  setting  up  a  cross,  claiming  the  country 
for  Christ  and  for  England. 

The  "  Ark "  anchored,  and  the  smaller  "  Dove " 
was  sent  cruising  along  the  shore  of  the  Potomac 
above  Point  Lookout,  "to  make  choice  of  a  place 


CALVERT  AND  MAEYLAND.  85 

probable  to  be  healthfull  and  fruitful!,"  which  might 
be  easily  fortified,  and  "convenient  for  trade  both 
with  the  English  and  savages."  The  little  "Dove" 
sailed  some  distance  up  the  Potomac,  examining  the 
shore,  and  encountered  various  Indians,  who  were 
astonished  when  they  saw  the  vessel,  diminutive,  yet 
so  much  larger  than  their  canoes,  and  said  they  would 
like  to  see  the  tree  from  which  that  great  canoe  was 
hollowed  out,  for  they  knew  nothing  of  the  method 
of  construction.  The  colonists  talked  with  the  In 
dians,  having  an  interpreter,  and  Leonard  Calvert 
asked  a  chief:  "Shall  we  stay  here,  or  shall  we  go 
back  f  To  this  a  mysterious  answer  was  made : 
"  You  may  do  as  you  think  best."  Calvert  did  not 
like  this,  and  decided  to  land  nearer  the  bay,  so  his 
vessel  dropped  down  the  river  again,  and  they  finally 
landed  on  a  stream  where  they  found  the  Indian  vil 
lage  of  Yoacamoco.  The  Indians  were  very  friendly, 
sold  part  of  their  village  for  some  axes  and  bright 
cloth,  gave  up  their  best  wigwams  to  Calvert  and  his 
colonists,  and  in  one  of  these  the  Jesuit  fathers  held 
a  solemn  service,  dedicating  the  settlement  to  St. 
Mary  ;  and  thus  was  founded  the  capital  of  the  new 
Palatinate  of  Maryland.  Under  Calvert's  wise  rule 
the  colony  prospered,  kept  up  friendliness  with  the 
Indians,  enjoyed  a  lucrative  trade,  and,  after  a  long 
struggle,  ultimately  managed  to  make  Claiborne 
abandon  the  settlement  on  Kent  Island,  which  be 
came  part  of  Maryland.  To  the  northward  of  them 


86     AMEEICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

was  the  estuary  of  the  Patuxent  River,  meaning 
"  the  stream  at  the  little  falls."  St.  Mary's  County 
is  the  peninsula  between  the  Patuxent  and  the  Poto 
mac,  terminating  at  Point  Lookout,  and  a  quiet  and 
restful  farming  country  to-day.  Leonardstown,  on 
the  Patuxent,  named  after  Leonard  Calvert,  is  the 
county-seat  ;  but  the  ancient  village  of  St.  Mary's, 
the  original  colony  and  capital,  afterwards  superseded 
by  Annapolis,  still  exists,  though  only  a  few  scattered 
bricks  remain  to  mark  the  site  of  the  old  fort  and 
town.  At  St.  Inigoe's  is  the  quaint  colonial  home 
of  the  Jesuit  fathers  who  accompanied  Calvert,  and 
its  especial  pride  is  a  sweet-toned  bell,  brought  out 
from  England  in  1685,  which  still  rings  the  Angelus. 
At  Kent  Island  scarcely  a  vestige  remains  of  Clai- 
borne's  trading-post  and  settlement. 

THE   MARYLAND    CAPITAL. 

The  settlers  of  Maryland  were  not  all  Roman 
Catholics,  however,  for  Puritan  refugees  came  in 
there.  Above  the  Patuxent  is  the  estuary  of  the 
Severn  River,  and  here,  in  a  beautiful  situation,  is 
Annapolis,  the  capital  of  Maryland,  which  has  about 
eight  thousand  inhabitants,  and  was  originally  colon 
ized  in  1649  by  Puritans  driven  from  the  James 
River  in  Virginia  by  the  Episcopalians  in  control 
there.  The  settlement  was  at  first  called  Provi 
dence,  and  Richard  Preston,  the  eminent  Quaker, 
was  long  its  commander.  Afterwards  it  was  named 


THE  MAKYLAND  CAPITAL.  87 

Anne  Arundel  Town,  after  Lady  Baltimore,  which 
still  is  the  name  of  its  county,  although  the  town 
came  to  be  finally  known  as  Annapolis,  from  Queen 
Anne,  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
who  gave  it  valuable  presents.  It  is  now  best  known 
as  the  seat  of  the  United  States  Naval  Academy, 
which  has  a  fine  establishment  there,  founded  by 
George  Bancroft,  the  historian,  when  he  was  Secre 
tary  of  the  Navy,  in  1845.  Its  ancient  defensive 
work,  Fort  Severn,  has  been  roofed  over,  and  is  the 
Academy  gymnasium.  The  city  was  made  the  capi 
tal  of  Maryland  in  1794,  the  government  being  then 
removed  from  St.  Mary's,  and  the  State  Capitol  is  a 
massive  brick  structure,  standing  on  an  eminence, 
with  a  lofty  dome  and  cupola,  from  which  there  is  a 
fine  view  of  the  surrounding  country  and  over  Chesa 
peake  Bay.  In  the  Senate  Chamber  General  Wash 
ington  surrendered  his  Commission  to  the  American 
Colonial  Congress  which  met  there  in  December, 
1783,  and  in  it  also  assembled  the  first  Constitu 
tional  Convention  of  the  United  States,  in  1786. 
In  front  of  the  building  is  a  colossal  statue  of 
Chief  Justice  Taney,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  a  native  of  Maryland,  who  died  in 
1864.  Annapolis  formerly  had  an  extensive  com 
merce  and  amassed  much  wealth,  until  eclipsed  by 
the  growth  of  Baltimore,  and  now  its  chief  trade, 
like  so  many  of  the  towns  of  the  Chesapeake,  is 
in  oysters. 


88     AMEKICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 
THE   MONUMENTAL   CITY. 

The  head  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  on  either  side  of  the 
Susquehanna  River,  is  composed  of  various  broad 
estuaries,  with  small  streams  entering  them.  To  the 
eastward  the  chief  is  Elk  River,  and  to  the  westward 
are  the  Gunpowder  and  Bush  Rivers,  with  others. 
Not  far  above  the  Severn  is  the  wide  tidal  estuary 
of  the  Patapsco,  so  named  by  the  Indians  to  describe 
its  peculiarity,  the  word  meaning  "  a  stream  caused 
by  back  or  tidewater  containing  froth."  A  few  miles 
up  this  estuary  is  the  great  city  and  port  of  the 
Chesapeake,  Baltimore,  so  named  in  honor  of  Lord 
Baltimore,  and  containing,  with  its  suburbs,  over  six 
hundred  thousand  people.  The  spreading  arms  of 
the  Patapsco,  around  which  the  city  is  built,  provide 
an  ample  harbor,  their  irregular  shores  making  plenty 
of  dock  room,  and  the  two  great  railways  from  the 
north  and  west  to  Washington,  which  go  under  the 
town  through  an  elaborate  system  of  tunnels,  give  it 
a  lucrative  foreign  trade  in  produce  brought  for  ship 
ment  abroad.  From  the  harbor  there  are  long  and 
narrow  docks,  and  an  inner  "  Basin  "  extending  into 
the  city,  and  across  the  heads  of  these  is  Pratt  Street. 
This  highway  is  famous  as  the  scene  of  the  first 
bloodshed  of  the  Civil  War.  The  Northern  troops, 
hastily  summoned  to  Washington,  were  marching 
along  it  from  one  railway  station  to  the  other  on 
April  19,  1861,  when  a  Baltimore  mob,  sympathizing 


THE  MONUMENTAL  CITY.  89 

with  the  South,  attacked  them.  In  the  riot  and  con 
flict  that  followed  eleven  were  killed  and  twenty-six 
were  wounded.  A  creek,  called  Jones's  Falls,  com 
ing  down  a  deep  valley  from  the  northward  into  the 
harbor,  divides  the  city  into  two  almost  equal  sec 
tions,  and  in  the  lower  part  is  walled  in,  with  a  street 
on  either  side.  Colonel  David  Jones,  who  was  the 
original  white  inhabitant  of  the  north  side  of  Balti 
more  harbor,  gave  this  stream  his  name  about  1680, 
before  anyone  expected  even  a  village  to  be  located 
there.  A  settlement  afterwards  began  eastward  of 
the  creek,  known  as  Jonestown,  while  Baltimore  was 
not  started  until  1730,  being  laid  out  westward  of 
the  creek  and  around  the  head  of  the  "  Basin,"  the 
plan  covering  sixty  acres.  This  was  called  New 
Town,  as  the  other  was  popularly  termed  Old  Town, 
but  they  subsequently  were  united  as  Baltimore, 
having  in  1752  about  two  hundred  people. 

Baltimore  is  rectangular  in  plan  and  picturesque, 
covering  an  undulating  surface,  the  hills,  which  are 
many,  inclining  either  to  Jones's  Falls  or  the  harbor. 
Its  popular  title  is  the  "  Monumental  City,"  given 
because  it  was  the  first  American  city  that  built  fine 
monuments.  At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century  the  State  of  Maryland  erected  on  Charles 
Street  a  monument  to  General  Washington,  rising 
one  hundred  and  ninety-five  feet,  a  Doric  shaft  of 
white  marble  surmounted  by  his  statue  and  upon  a 
base  fifty  feet  square.  This  splendid  monument 


90     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

stands  in  a  broadened  avenue  and  at  the  summit  of 
a  hill,  surrounded  by  tasteful  lawns  and  flower  gar 
dens,  with  a  fountain  in  front.  It  makes  an  attrac 
tive  centre  for  Mount  Vernon  Place,  which  contains 
one  of  the  finest  collections  of  buildings  in  the  city, 
and  presents  a  scene  essentially  Parisian.  Here  are 
the  Peabody  Institute  and  the  Garrett  Mansion,  both 
impressive  buildings.  Baltimore  has  a  "Battle 
Monument,"  located  on  Calvert  Street,  in  Monument 
Square,  a  marble  shaft  fifty-three  feet  high,  marking 
the  British  invasion  of  1814,  and  erected  in  memory 
of  the  men  of  Baltimore  who  fell  in  battle  just  outside 
the  city,  when  the  British  forces  marched  from  Elk 
River  to  Washington  and  burnt  the  Capitol,  and  the 
British  fleet  came  up  the  Patapsco  and  shelled  the 
town.  The  city  also  has  other  fine  monuments,  so 
that  its  popular  name  is  well  deserved. 

The  City  Hall  is  the  chief  building  of  Baltimore,  a 
marble  structure  in  Renaissance,  costing  $2,000,000, 
its  elaborate  dome  rising  two  hundred  and  sixty  feet, 
and  giving  a  magnificent  view  over  the  city  and 
harbor.  There  are  two  noted  churches,  the  Mount 
Vernon  Methodist  Church,  of  greenstone,  with  buff 
and  red  facings  and  polished  granite  columns,  being 
the  finest,  although  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
nearby,  is  regarded  as  the  most  elaborate  specimen 
of  Lancet-Gothic  architecture  in  the  country,  its  spire 
rising  two  hundred  and  sixty-eight  feet.  The  Roman 
Catholic  Cathedral  is  an  attractive  granite  church, 


THE  MONUMENTAL  CITY.  91 

containing  paintings  presented  by  Louis  XVI.  and 
Charles  X.  of  France.  Cardinal  Archbishop  Gib 
bons,  of  Baltimore,  is  the  Roman  Catholic  Primate 
of  the  United  States.  The  greatest  charities  of  the 
city  are  the  Johns  Hopkins  Hospital  and  the  Johns 
Hopkins  University,  endowed  by  a  Baltimore  mer 
chant  who  died  in  1873,  the  joint  endowments  being 
$6,500,000.  Hopkins  was  shrewd  and  penurious, 
and  John  W.  Garrett  persuaded  him  to  make  these 
princely  endowments,  much  of  his  fortune  being  in 
vested  in  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  of  which 
Garrett  was  President  in  its  days  of  greatest  pros 
perity.  This  railroad  is  the  chief  Baltimore  institu 
tion,  giving  it  a  direct  route  to  the  Mississippi  Val 
ley,  and  was  the  first  started  of  the  great  American 
trunk  railways,  its  origin  dating  from  1826,  when 
the  movement  began  for  its  charter,  which  was 
granted  by  the  Maryland  Legislature  the  next  year. 
This  charter  conferred  most  comprehensive  powers, 
and  the  story  is  told  that  when  it  was  being  read  in 
that  body  one  of  the  members  interrupted,  saying : 
"  Stop,  man,  you  are  asking  more  than  the  Lord's 
Prayer."  The  reply  was  that  it  was  all  necessary, 
and  the  more  asked,  the  more  would  be  secured. 
The  interrupter,  convinced,  responded:  "Right, 
man ;  go  on."  The  corner-stone  of  the  railway  was 
laid  July  4,  1828,  beginning  the  route  from  Balti 
more,  up  the  Potomac  and  through  the  Alleghenies 
to  the  Ohio  River. 


92     AMEEICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 


Baltimore  is  proud  of  the  great  art  collection  of 
Henry  Walters  in  Mount  Vernon  Place,  exhibited 
for  a  fee  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor ;  and  it  also  has 
had  as  a  noted  resident  Jerome  Bonaparte,  brother 
of  Napoleon,  who  married,  and  then  discarded  by- 
Napoleon's  order,  Miss  Patterson,  a  Baltimore  lady. 
Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  has  remarked  that  three 
short  American  poems,  each  the  best  of  its  kind, 
were  written  in  Baltimore :  Poe's  Raven,  Randall's 
Maryland,  My  Maryland,  and  Key's  Star-Spangled 
Banner.  It  is  also  proud  of  its  park — "  Druid  Hill " 
— a  splendid  pleasure-ground  of  seven  hundred  acres, 
owing  much  of  its  beauty  to  the  fact  that  it  had  been 
preserved  and  developed  as  a  private  park  for  a 
century  before  passing  under  control  of  the  city. 
The  route  to  it  is  by  the  magnificent  Eutaw  Place, 
and  the  stately  entrance  gateway  opens  upon  an 
avenue  lined  on  either  hand  by  long  rows  of  flower 
vases  on  high  pedestals,  laid  out  alongside  Druid 
Lake,  the  chief  water-reservoir.  The  Park  has  an 
undulating  surface  of  woodland  and  meadow,  with 
grand  old  trees  and  splendid  lawns,  making  a  scene 
decidedly  English,  not  overwrought  by  art,  but 
mainly  left  in  its  natural  condition.  The  mansion- 
house  of  the  former  owner,  now  a  restaurant,  occu 
pies  a  commanding  position,  and  on  the  northern 
side  the  land  rises  to  Prospect  Hill,  with  an  expan- 


DKUID  HILL  AND  FOKT  M'HENBY.  93 

sive  view  all  around  the  horizon  and  eastward  to 
Chesapeake  Bay. 

In  this  beautiful  park  the  higher  grounds  are  used 
for  water-reservoirs.  Baltimore  has  the  advantage 
of  receiving  its  supply  by  gravity  from  the  Gun 
powder  River  to  the  northward,  where  a  lake  has 
been  formed,  the  pure  water  being  brought  through 
a  tunnel  for  seven  miles  to  the  reservoirs,  of  which 
there  are  eight,  with  a  capacity  of  2,275,000,000 
gallons,  and  capable  of  supplying  300,000,000  gal 
lons  daily.  These  reservoirs  appear  as  pleasant 
lakes,  Montebello  and  Roland,  with  Druid  Lake, 
being  the  chief.  Across  the  ravine  of  Jones's  Falls 
is  Baltimore's  chief  cemetery,  Greenmount,  a  pretty 
ground,  with  gentle  hills  and  vales.  Here,  in  a  spot 
selected  by  herself,  is  buried  Jerome's  discarded 
wife,  Madame  Patterson-Bonaparte,  whose  check 
ered  history  is  Baltimore's  chief  romance.  Here 
also  lie  Junius  Brutus  Booth,  the  tragedian,  and  his 
family,  among  them  John  Wilkes  Booth,  who  mur 
dered  President  Lincoln. 

The  most  significant  sight  of  Baltimore,  however, 
is  its  old  Fort  McHenry — down  in  the  harbor,  on  the 
extreme  end  of  Locust  Point,  originally  called  Whet 
stone  Point,  where  the  Pa,tapsco  River  divides — built 
on  a  low-lying  esplanade,  with  green  banks  sloping 
almost  to  the  water.  It  was  the  strategic  position  of 
this  small  but  strong  work,  thoroughly  controlling  the 
city  as  well  as  the  harbor  entrance,  that  held  Balti- 


94     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

more  during  the  early  movements  of  the  Civil  War, 
and  maintained  the  road  from  the  North  to  Washing 
ton.  Its  greatest  memory,  however,  and,  by  the  as 
sociation,  probably  the  greatest  celebrity  Baltimore 
enjoys,  comes  from  the  flag  on  the  staff  now  quietly 
waving  over  its  parapets.  Whetstone  Point  had 
been  fortified  during  the  Revolution,  but  in  1794 
Maryland  ceded  it  to  the  United  States,  and  the  peo 
ple  of  Baltimore  raised  the  money  to  build  the  pres 
ent  fort,  which  was  named  after  James  McHenry, 
who  had  been  one  of  the  framers  of  the  Federal  Con 
stitution  and  was  Secretary  of  War  under  President 
Washington.  When  Admiral  Cockburn's  British 
fleet  came  up  the  Chesapeake  in  September,  1814, 
the  Maryland  poet,  Francis  Scott  Key,  was  an  aid  to 
General  Smith  at  Bladensburg.  An  intimate  friend 
had  been  taken  prisoner  on  board  one  of  the  ships, 
and  Key  was  sent  in  a  boat  to  effect  his  release  by 
exchange.  The  Admiral  told  Key  he  would  have  to 
detain  him  aboard  for  a  day  or  two,  as  they  were 
proceeding  to  attack  Baltimore.  Thus  Key  re 
mained  among  the  enemy,  an  unwilling  witness  of 
the  bombardment  on  September  12th,  which  con 
tinued  throughout  the  night.  In  the  early  morning 
the  attack  was  abandoned,  the  flag  was  unharmed, 
and  the  British  ships  dropped  down  the  Patapsco. 

Key  wrote  his  poem  on  the  backs  of  letters,  with 
a  barrel-head  for  a  desk,  and  being  landed  next 
day  he  showed  it  to  friends,  and  then  made  a  fresh 


DEFENCE  OF  FOET  M'HENRY.  95 

copy.  It  was  taken  to  the  office  of  the  Baltimore 
American  and  published  anonymously  in  a  handbill, 
afterwards  appearing  in  the  issue  of  that  newspaper 
on  September  21,  1814.  The  tune  was  "  Anacreon 
in  Heaven/7  and  there  was  a  brief  introduction  de 
scribing  the  circumstances  under  which  it  was  written. 
It  was  first  sung  in  the  Baltimore  Theatre,  October 
12th  of  that  year,  and  afterwards  became  popular. 
The  flag  which  floated  over  Fort  McHenry  on  that 
memorable  night  is  still  preserved.  Fired  by  patri 
otic  impulses,  various  ladies  of  Baltimore  had  made 
this  flag,  among  them  being  Mrs.  Mary  Pickersgill, 
who  is  described  as  a  daughter  of  Betsy  Ross,  of 
Philadelphia,  who  made  the  original  sample-flag  dur 
ing  the  Revolution.  The  Fort  McHenry  flag  con 
tains  about  four  hundred  yards  of  bunting  and  is 
nearly  square,  measuring  twenty-nine  by  thirty-two 
feet.  It  has  fifteen  stars  and  fifteen  stripes,  which 
was  then  the  official  regulation,  there  being  fifteen 
States  in  the  American  Union.  The  poem  of  the  Star- 
Spangled  Banner ,  thus  inspired  and  written,  has  become 
the  great  American  patriotic  anthem,  and  has  carried 
everywhere  the  fame  of  the  fort,  the  city,  and  the 
flowery  flag  of  the  United  States.  The  following  is  the 
song,  with  title  and  introduction,  as  first  published : 

DEFENCE   OF   FORT   MCHENRY. 

TUNE — "Anacreon  in  Heaven." 
O  !  say  can  you  see  by  the  dawn's  early  light, 
What  so  proudly  we  hailed  at  the  twilight's  last  gleaming, 


96     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

Whose  broad  stripes  and  bright  stars  through  the  perilous  fight, 

O'er  the  ramparts  we  watch' d,  were  so  gallantly  streaming? 
And  the  Rockets'  red  glare,  the  Bombs  bursting  in  air, 
Gave  proof  through  the  night  that  our  Flag  was  still  there ; 
O !  say  does  that  star-spangled  banner  yet  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free,  and  the  home  of  the  brave  ? 

On  the  shore  dimly  seen  through  the  mists  of  the  deep, 
Where  the  foe's  haughty  host  in  dread  silence  reposes  ; 

What  is  that  which  the  breeze,  o'er  the  towering  steep, 
As  it  fitfully  glows,  half  conceals,  half  discloses  ? 

Now  it  catches  the  gleam  of  the  morning's  first  beam, 

In  full  glory  reflected  now  shines  in  the  stream. 
'Tis  the  star-spangled  banner,  O  !  long  may  it  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free,  and  the  home  of  the  brave  1 

And  where  is  that  band  who  so  vauntingly  swore 
That  the  havoc  of  war  and  the  battle's  confusion, 

A  home  and  a  country  should  leave  us  no  more  ? 
Their  blood  has  washed  out  their  foul  steps  pollution. 

No  refuge  could  save  the  hireling  and  slave 

From  the  terror  of  flight  or  the  gloom  of  the  grave, 
And  the  star-spangled  banner  in  triumph  doth  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free,  and  the  home  of  the  brave  1 

O  !  thus  be  it  ever  when  freemen  shall  stand 
Between  their  lov'd  homes  and  the  war's  desolation, 

Blest  with  vict'ry  and  peace,  may  the  Heav'n  rescued  land, 
Praise  the  Power  that  hath  made  and  preserv'd  us  a  nation  I 

Then  conquer  we  must,  when  our  cause  it  is  just, 

And  this  is  our  motto  :  "  In  God  is  our  Trust." 
And  the  star-spangled  banner  in  triumph  shall  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free,  and  the  home  of  the  brave  I 


THE  GREAT  THEATRE  OF  THE 
CIVIL  WAR. 


TOL.  I— 7 


II. 

THE  GEEAT  THEATEE  OF  THE  CIVIL  WAE. 

On  to  Eichmond — Horace  Greeley's  Editorial  Standard — The 
Conflict's  Ebb  and  Flow— The  Two  Battles  of  Bull  Eun— 
Arlington — Manassas — McDowell  against  Beauregard — Lee 
and  Jackson  against  Pope — Antietam — The  Emancipation 
Proclamation — Fredericksburg — Burnside  against  Lee — Chan- 
cellorsville — Lee  and  Jackson  against  Hooker — Death  of 
Stonewall  Jackson — Guinney  Station — The  Wilderness — Mine 
Eun — Grant's  Southern  March — Battles  of  the  Wilderness — 
Spottsylvania — Hanover  Court-House — Ashland — Eichmond 
—The  Capitol— Washington's  Statues— Stonewall  Jackson's 
Statue — Confederate  White  House — General  Lee's  House — 
The  First  House— St.  John' s  Church— Patrick  Henry— Libby 
Hill  and  Prison — Belle  Isle — Eocketts — Hollywood  Cemetery 
— Noted  Graves — McClellan's  Siege  of  Eichmond — Drewry's 
Bluff — Chickahominy  Swamps — Fair  Oaks — Seven  Days'  Bat 
tles—  Games'  Mill — Cold  Harbor — Malvern  Hill — Harrison's 
Landing — Grant's  Siege  of  Eichmond — Second  Battle  of  Cold 
Harbor — Bermuda  Hundred — Petersburg — Capture  of  Eich 
mond — Kilpatrick'  s  Eaid — Piedmont — Charlottesville — Uni 
versity  of  Virginia — Monticello — Thomas  Jefferson — Shen- 
andoah  Valley  —  Cross  Keys  —  Jackson's  Exploits — Cedar 
Mountain  —  General  Sheridan  —  Cedar  Creek  —  Sheridan 
against  Early — Luray  Cavern — Battlefield  of  Gettysburg — 
Lee  Marches  into  Pennsylvania — Hooker  Eesigns — Meade 
against  Lee — Gettysburg  Topography — Seminary  Eidge — 
Cemetery  Eidge — The  Eound  Tops — Confederate  Advance  to 
Carlisle  and  the  Susquehanna — Three  Days'  Battle — Eey- 
nolds  Killed — The  Eound  Tops  Attacked— General  Sickles 
Wounded  in  Peach  Orchard — Ewell  Eepulsed  at  Cemetery — 
Pickett's  Charge  and  Eepulse — Gushing  and  Armistead  Killed 
— High- Water  Mark  Monument — Lee  Eetreats — Gettysburg 

(99) 


100     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

Monuments — Jenny  Wade — National  Cemetery — Lincoln's 
Immortal  Dedication — Valley  of  Death — Massachusetts  Color- 
Bearer — The  Reunited  Union. 

ON   TO    RICHMOND. 

Lay  down  the  Axe  ;  fling  by  the  spade  : 

Leave  in  its  track  the  toiling  plough  ; 
The  rifle  and  the  bayonet  blade 

For  arms  like  yours  were  fitter  now  ; 
And  let  the  hands  that  ply  the  pen 

Quit  the  light  task,  and  learn  to  wield 
The  horseman's  crooked  brand,  and  rein 

The  charger  on  the  battlefield. 

THUS  trumpeted  William  Cullen  Bryant  in  "  Our 
Country's  Call,"  while  the  most  powerful  American 
editor  of  the  time  of  the  Civil  War,  Horace  Greeley, 
raised  his  standard  at  the  head  of  the  New  York 
Tribune's  editorial  page  early  in  1861  with  the  words 
"  On  to  Richmond."  The  region  between  Washing 
ton  and  Richmond,  and  much  of  the  adjacent  coun 
try  stretching  southward  beyond  James  River  and 
northward  into  Pennsylvania,  will  always  be  historic 
because  of  the  momentous  movements,  sanguinary 
conflicts  and  wonderful  strategy  of  the  great  Ameri 
can  Civil  War  from  1861  to  1865.  We  have  de 
scribed  the  environment  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  and 
now  proceed  to  a  consideration  of  this  noted  region 
west  of  the  bay,  where  the  tide  of  battle  repeatedly 
ebbed  and  flowed.  The  first  northern  invasion  of 
the  Virginia  Peninsula  and  the  abortive  siege  of 
Richmond  in  the  summer  of  1862  were  followed  by 


THE  TWO  BATTLES  OF  BULL  KUN.    101 

McClelland  retreat,  Pope's  defeat  and  the  southern 
invasion  of  Maryland,  which  was  checked  at  Antie- 
tam  in  the  autumn.  The  northern  attacks  at  Fred- 
ericksburg  in  December  and  at  Chancellors ville  in 
the  spring  of  1863  were  followed  by  the  invasion  of 
Pennsylvania,  checked  at  Gettysburg,  the  "high- 
water  mark "  of  the  rebellion ;  and  Grant's  march 
down  through  "  the  Wilderness »  in  1864,  Mowed 
by  his  gradual  advances  south  of  the  James,  forced 
the  evacuation  of  Richmond,  and  Lee's  final  sur 
render  at  Appomattox  in  1865. 

THE   TWO    BATTLES    OF   BULL   RUN. 

The  main  route  from  Washington  to  the  South 
crossed  the  Potomac,  then  as  now,  by  the  "Long 
Bridge,"  passing  in  full  view  of  the  yellow  Arlington 
House,  fronted  by  its  columned  porch.  This  historic 
building  was  the  home  of  General  Eobert  E.  Lee  in 
his  early  life,  the  chief  Confederate  Commander 
during  the  Civil  War.  The  estate  is  now  a  vast 
cemetery,  and  upon  it  and  all  about  to  the  westward 
are  the  remains  of  the  forts  and  earthworks  erected 
for  the  defence  of  Washington.  After  the  war 
began,  in  April,  1861,  the  Northern  troops  were 
gradually  assembled  in  and  around  Washington ;  but 
there  came  an  imperative  demand  from  the  country 
that  they  should  go  forth  and  give  the  Confederates 
battle  and  capture  Richmond  before  their  Congress 
could  meet,  the  opening  of  the  session  being  fixed 


102     AMEEICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

for  July  20th.  The  Southern  armies  were  entrenched 
at  Manassas  Junction,  west  of  Washington,  and  at 
Winchester  to  the  northwest,  and  they  were  making 
forays  almost  in  sight  of  Washington.  General 
McDowell,  with  nearly  forty  thousand  men,  marched 
out  of  the  Washington  fortifications  on  July  17th  to 
attack  General  Beauregard  at  Manassas.  The  Con 
federates  brought  their  Winchester  army  hastily 
down,  and  took  position  along  the  banks  of  Bull 
Run,  a  tributary  of  the  Occoquan,  their  lines  stretch 
ing  for  about  eight  miles.  McDowell  attacked  on 
the  morning  of  the  21st,  each  side  having  about 
twenty-eight  thousand  available  men.  The  conflict 
lasted  with  varying  success  most  of  the  day,  McDowell 
being  finally  beaten  and  retreating  to  Washington. 

Thirteen  months  later,  after  McClelland  retreat 
from  Richmond,  was  fought  in  almost  the  same  place, 
on  August  29  and  30,  1862,  the  second  battle  of 
Bull  Run.  General  Pope  had  a  considerable  force  in 
Northern  Virginia,  and  when  McClellan,  whom  Pope 
superseded,  retreated  from  before  Richmond,  and 
started  on  his  return  from  James  River,  Lee  moved 
nearly  his  whole  army  up  from  Richmond,  hoping  to 
fall  upon  Pope  before  McClellan  could  join  him.  On 
August  22d  the  opposing  forces  confronted  each 
other  along  the  Rappahannock,  when  General  Stuart, 
with  the  Confederate  cavalry,  made  a  raid  around 
Pope's  lines  to  the  rear,  reaching  that  general's  head 
quarters  and  capturing  his  personal  baggage,  in  which 


THE  TWO  BATTLES  OF  BULL  EUN.    103 

was  his  despatch  book  describing  the  position  of  the 
whole  Northern  army.  This  gave  Lee  such  valuable 
information  that  on  the  25th  he  sent  Stonewall  Jack 
son  with  thirty  thousand  men,  who,  by  a  forced 
march,  went  around  the  western  side  of  the  Bull 
Run  Mountains,  came  east  again  by  the  Thorough 
fare  Gap,  and  on  the  night  of  the  27th  was  in  Pope's 
rear,  and  had  cut  his  railroad  connections  and  cap 
tured  his  supplies  at  Manassas.  Pope,  discovering 
the  flanking  movement,  began  falling  back  towards 
Manassas,  and  Jackson  then  withdrew  towards  the 
Gap,  waiting  for  Lee  to  come  up.  There  were  vari 
ous  strategic  movements  afterwards,  with  fighting  on 
the  29th ;  and  on  the  30th  the  Confederate  wings 
had  enclosed  as  in  a  vise  Pope's  forces  to  the  west 
of  Bull  Run,  when,  after  some  terrific  combats,  Pope 
retreated  across  Bull  Run  towards  Washington.  Pope 
had  about  thirty-five  thousand  men  and  Lee  forty-six 
thousand  engaged  in  this  battle.  During  the  night 
of  September  2d  Jackson  made  a  reconnoissance 
towards  Washington,  in  which  the  Union  Generals 
Stevens  and  Kearney  were  killed  at  Chantilly,  and 
the  authorities  became  so  apprehensive  of  an  attack 
upon  the  Capital  that  they  ordered  the  whole  army 
to  fall  back  behind  the  Washington  defenses.  Pope 
was  then  relieved,  at  his  own  request,  and  the  com 
mand  restored  to  McClellan.  The  Confederates 
marched  northward  across  the  Potomac  and  McClel 
lan  followed,  ending  with  the  battles  of  South  Moun- 


104     AMEEICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCKIPTIVE. 

tain  and  Antietam,  later  in  September,  when  Lee  re 
treated  and  recrossed  the  Potomac  into  Virginia  on 
the  18th.  The  significant  result  of  this  conflict  and 
withdrawal  was  the  issue  of  the  famous  Emancipa 
tion  Proclamation.  President  Lincoln  had  made  a 
vow  that  if  Lee  was  driven  back  from  Maryland  he 
would  issue  a  proclamation  abolishing  slavery,  which 
was  done  September  22,  1862. 

FREDERICKSBURG   AND   THE   WILDERNESS. 

The  route  from  Washington  to  Richmond  skirts 
the  Potomac  for  a  long  distance  south  of  Alexandria, 
winding  among  hills  and  forests,  crossing  various 
broad  creeks  and  bayous,  among  them  the  Occoquan, 
the  outlet  of  Bull  Run,  and  then  diverges  towards 
the  Rappahannock.  This  is  more  historic  ground, 
for  the  terrible  battle  of  Fredericksburg  was  fought 
here  in  December,  1862,  and  the  battle  of  Chancel- 
lorsville,  to  the  westward,  in  May,  1863,  where  Stone 
wall  Jackson  lost  his  life.  The  "  Wilderness  "  is  to 
the  southward  of  the  Rappahannock,  occupying  about 
two  hundred  square  miles,  a  plateau  sloping  to  culti 
vated  lowlands  on  every  side.  The  original  forests 
were  long  ago  cut  off,  and  a  dense  growth  of  scrub 
timber  and  brambles  covered  nearly  the  whole  sur 
face,  with  an  occasional  patch  of  woodland  or  a  clear 
ing.  After  the  battle  of  Antietam  the  anxiety  for 
another  forward  movement  to  Richmond  led  the  Ad 
ministration  to  remove  McClellan,  and  then  General 


FEEDEEICKSBUKG  AND  THE  WILDEENESS.      105 

Burnside  took  command.  His  troops  crossed  the 
Kappahannock  in  December  to  attack  General  Lee's 
Confederate  position  on  the  Heights  of  Marye,  where 
they  were  strongly  entrenched  ;  but  the  attack  failed, 
the  shattered  army  after  great  carnage  withdrawing 
to  the  north  bank  of  the  river,  and  it  lay  there  for 
months  in  winter  quarters.  Burnside  was  superseded 
by  General  Hooker,  and  in  May,  1863,  the  Northern 
army  again  crossed  the  Rappahannock  at  several 
fords  above  Fredericksburg  and  started  for  Rich 
mond.  Lee  quickly  marched  westward  from  Freder 
icksburg,  and  Lee  and  Hooker  faced  each  other  at 
Chancellorsville.  Then  came  another  of  Stonewall 
Jackson's  brilliant  flank  movements.  Chancellors 
ville  is  on  the  eastern  border  of  the  Wilderness,  and 
Jackson,  making  a  long  detour  to  the  south  and  west 
through  that  desolate  region,  got  around  and  behind 
Hooker's  right  flank,  surprised  him,  and  sent  General 
Howard's  entire  corps  in  panic  down  upon  the  rest 
of  the  Union  forces,  making  the  greatest  surprise  of 
the  war.  During  that  same  night  Jackson,  after  his 
victory,  was  accidentally  shot  by  his  own  men,  a 
blow  from  which  the  Confederacy  never  recovered. 
Twelve  miles  south  of  Fredericksburg,  at  Guinney 
Station,  is  the  little  house  where  Jackson  died.  He 
and  his  aides,  after  reconnoitering,  had  returned  with 
in  the  Confederate  lines,  and  the  pickets,  mistaking 
them  for  the  enemy,  fired  into  the  party.  Several 
of  his  escort  were  killed  and  Jackson  was  shot  in 


106     AMEKICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

three  places,  an  arm  being  shattered.  Being  put 
upon  a  litter  one  of  the  bearers  stumbled,  and  Jack 
son  was  additionally  injured  by  being  thrown  to  the 
ground.  The  arm  was  amputated,  but  afterwards 
pneumonia  set  in,  which  was  the  immediate  cause  of 
his  death.  He  lingered  a  week,  dying  May  10th,  in 
his  fortieth  year,  his  last  words,  dreamily  spoken, 
being :  "  Let  us  cross  over  the  river  and  rest  under 
the  shade  of  the  trees."  It  is  said  this  loss  of  his 
ablest  lieutenant  had  such  an  effect  upon  Lee  that  he 
afterwards  aged  rapidly,  and  his  hair  quickly 
whitened.  The  spot  where  Jackson  was  shot  is 
alongside  the  Orange  Plank  Road,  and  is  marked  by 
a  granite  monument.  Jackson  is  buried  at  Lexington, 
Virginia,  where  he  had  previously  been  a  professor 
in  the  Military  Academy.  Hooker  withdrew  across 
the  Rappahannock,  Lee  started  northward,  Hooker 
was  succeeded  by  Meade,  and  the  battle  of  Gettys 
burg  was  fought  at  the  beginning  of  July. 

Then  came  another  movement  towards  Richmond, 
late  in  the  year  1863.  Meade  marched  down  to  the 
Wilderness  in  November,  had  heavy  skirmishing  and 
fought  the  battle  of  Mine  Run  on  its  western  border, 
and  then  went  back  and  into  winter  quarters.  Gen 
eral  Grant  came  from  the  West,  took  command,  and 
early  in  May,  1864,  started  on  his  great  march  to 
Richmond  through  the  Wilderness,  with  Lee  con 
stantly  fighting  on  his  right  flank  and  front.  There 
followed  during  that  month  a  series  of  sanguinary 


FEEDEEICKSBUEG  AND  THE  WILDEENESS.      107 

battles,  in  this  inhospitable  region,  in  which  the  losses 
of  the  two  armies  exceeded  sixty  thousand  men. 
While  moving  southward,  Grant  faced  and  fought 
generally  westward.  It  took  him  ten  days  to  pro 
gress  a  dozen  miles,  and  he  could  only  move  during 
the  lulls  in  the  fighting,  the  advance  being  usually 
made  by  changing  one  corps  after  another  from  the 
right  to  the  left  by  marching  in  the  rear  of  the  main 
body,  thus  gradually  prolonging  the  left  wing  south 
ward  through  the  forbidding  country.  Lee  pressed 
forward  into  the  vacated  space,  fortifying  and  fight 
ing,  his  object  being  to  force  Grant  eastward  and 
away  from  Richmond,  which  was  towards  the  south. 
"  More  desperate  fighting  has  not  been  witnessed 
upon  this  Continent,"  said  Grant  of  this  struggle  in 
the  Wilderness ;  and  later  he  wrote  to  Washington 
the  famous  declaration  of  his  intention  "  to  fight  it 
out  on  this  line  if  it  takes  all  summer."  The  whole 
of  this  desolate  region  south  and  west  of  Fredericks- 
burg  and  down  to  Spottsylvania  is  filled  with  the  re 
mains  of  the  fortifications  constructed  in  these  memor 
able  battles.  Grant  said  that  "  In  every  change  of 
position  or  halt  for  the  night,  whether  confronting 
the  enemy  or  not,  the  moment  arms  were  stacked 
the  men  entrenched  themselves,"  adding,  "It  was 
wonderful  how  quickly  they  could  construct  defenses 
of  considerable  strength."  Thus  the  way  was  worked, 
by  shovel  and  shell  and  musket  and  axe,  through  the 
Wilderness.  There  is  a  plan  afoot  for  acquiring 


108     AMEKICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

these  battlefields  and  the  connecting  roads,  so  as 
to  preserve  this  historic  ground  as  a  public  reserva 
tion. 

The  railway  route  to  Richmond  goes  through  the 
Wilderness,  thinly  peopled,  sparsely  cultivated,  and 
exhibiting  a  few  negro  settlements,  where  they  sun 
themselves  alongside  their  cabins  and  watch  the 
trains  go  by.  There  is  an  occasional  horse  or  cow, 
but  almost  the  only  animals  visible  are  the  nimble- 
footed  and  hungry-looking  "razor-backed"  hogs 
that  range  the  scrub  timber  in  search  of  a  precarious 
living.  Once  in  awhile  is  seen  an  old  homestead 
that  has  survived  the  ruin  of  the  war,  but  the  few 
buildings  are  generally  most  primitive,  the  favorite 
style  being  a  small  wooden  cabin  set  alongside  a 
huge  brick  chimney.  It  is  said  the  chimney  is  first 
built,  and  if  the  draught  is  all  right  they  then  build 
the  little  cabin  over  against  it  and  move  in  the  family. 
The  agriculture  does  not  appear  much  better  until 
Richmond  is  approached,  where  the  surface  of  the 
country  improves.  At  Hanover  Court  House  are 
more  signs  of  battlefields,  for  here  McClellan  had  his 
early  conflicts  in  besieging  Richmond  in  1862,  while 
Grant  came  down  from  the  Wilderness  and  had  the 
battles  of  the  North  Anna  near  the  end  of  May,  1864, 
and  of  Cold  Harbor  in  June,  after  which  he  moved 
his  army  to  the  south  side  of  James  River.  Ashland, 
sixteen  miles  north  of  Richmond,  is  in  an  attractive 
region,  and  is  a  favorite  place  of  suburban  residence. 


THE  CITY  OF  EICHMOND.  109 

This  was  the  birthplace  of  Henry  Clay,  in  1777,  and 
is  the  seat  of  Randolph  Macon  College. 

THE   CITY   OF   RICHMOND. 

Richmond,  the  capital  of  Virginia,  has  about  one 
hundred  and  thirty  thousand  population,  and  occu 
pies  a  delightful  situation.  The  James  River  flows 
around  a  grand  curve  from  the  northwest  to  the  south, 
and  pours  over  falls  and  rapids,  which  display  many 
little  cascades  among  a  maze  of  diminutive  islands. 
There  are  on  the  northern  bank  two  or  three  large 
hills  and  several  smaller  ones,  and  Richmond  is  built 
upon  these,  it  is  said  like  Rome  upon  her  seven  hills. 
The  State  Capitol  and  a  broad  white  penitentiary 
crown  two  of  the  highest.  The  town  was  founded  at 
the  falls  of  the  James  in  1737,  and  the  capital  of  Vir 
ginia  was  moved  here  from  Williamsburg  in  1779, 
when  there  was  only  a  small  population.  The  place 
did  not  have  much  history,  however,  until  it  became 
the  Capital  of  the  Confederacy,  and  then  the  strong 
efforts  made  to  capture  it  and  the  vigorous  defence 
gave  it  world- wide  fame.  Beginning  in  1862  it  was 
made  an  impregnable  fortress,  and  its  fall,  when  the 
Confederate  flank  was  turned  in  1865  through  the 
capture  of  Petersburg,  resulted  from  General  Lee's 
retreat  westward  and  his  final  surrender  at  Appo- 
mattox.  When  Lee  abandoned  Petersburg  there  was 
a  panic  in  Richmond,  with  riot  and  pillage ;  the 
bridges,  storehouses  and  mills  were  fired,  and  nearly 


110     AMEEICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

one-third  of  the  city  burnt.  It  has  since,  however, 
been  rebuilt  in  better  style,  and  has  extensive  manu 
factures  and  a  profitable  trade. 

The  centre  of  Richmond  is  a  park  of  twelve  acres, 
surrounding  the  Capitol,  a  venerable  building  upon 
the  summit  of  Shockoe  Hill,  and  the  most  conspicu 
ous  structure  in  the  city.  It  was  built  just  after  the 
American  Revolution,  the  plan  having  been  brought 
from  France  by  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  modelled  from 
the  ancient  Roman  temple  of  the  Maison  Carree  at 
Nismes,  the  front  being  a  fine  Ionic  portico.  From 
the  roof,  elevated  high  above  every  surrounding 
building,  there  is  an  excellent  view,  disclosing  the 
grand  sweep  of  the  river  among  the  islands  and 
rapids,  going  off  to  the  south,  where  it  disappears 
among  the  hills  behind  Drewry's  Bluff,  below  the 
town.  The  square-block  plan  with  streets  crossing 
at  right  angles  is  well  displayed,  and  the  abrupt  sides 
of  some  of  the  hills,  where  they  have  been  cut  away, 
disclose  the  high-colored,  reddish-yellow  soils  which 
have  been  so  prolific  in  tobacco  culture,  and  give  the 
scene  such  brilliant  hues,  as  well  as  dye  the  river  a 
chocolate  color  in  times  of  freshet.  The  city  spreads 
over  a  wide  surface,  and  has  populous  suburbs  on  the 
lower  lands  south  of  the  James.  This  Capitol  was 
the  meeting-place  of  the  Confederate  Congress,  and 
the  locality  of  all  the  statecraft  of  the  "  Lost  Cause." 
It  contains  the  battle-flags  of  the  Virginia  troops  and 
other  relics,  and  in  a  gallery  built  around  the  rotunda 


THE  CITY  OF  BICHMOND.  Ill 

are  hung  the  portraits  of  the  Virginia  Governors  and 
of  the  three  great  military  chiefs,  Lee,  Johnston  and 
Jackson.  Upon  the  floor  beneath  is  Houdon's  famous 
statue  of  Washington,  made  while  he  was  yet  alive. 
In  1785,  the  talented  French  sculptor  accompanied 
Franklin  to  this  country  to  prepare  the  model  for  the 
statue,  which  had  been  ordered  by  the  Virginia  Gov 
ernment.  He  spent  two  weeks  at  Mount  Vernon 
with  Washington,  taking  casts  of  his  face,  head  and 
upper  portion  of  the  body,  with  minute  measure 
ments,  and  then  returned  to  Paris.  The  statue  was 
finished  in  1788,  and  is  regarded  as  the  most  accu 
rate  reproduction  of  Washington  existing.  A  statue 
of  Henry  Clay  and  a  bust  of  Lafayette  are  also  in 
the  rotunda. 

On  the  esplanade  north  of  the  Capitol  is  Craw 
ford's  bronze  equestrian  statue  of  Washington  upon 
a  massive  granite  pedestal,  one  of  the  most  attractive 
and  elaborate  bronzes  ever  made.  The  horse  is 
half  thrown  upon  his  haunches,  giving  the  statue  ex 
ceeding  spirit,  while  upon  smaller  pedestals  around 
stand  six  heroic  statues  in  bronze  of  Virginia  states 
men  of  various  periods — Patrick  Henry,  Thomas 
Jefferson,  Thomas  Nelson,  George  Mason,  Andrew 
Lewis  and  Chief  Justice  John  Marshall — the  whole 
adorned  with  appropriate  emblems.  This  artistic 
masterpiece  was  constructed  at  a  cost  of  $260,000. 
In  the  centre  of  the  esplanade  is  Foley's  bronze 
statue  of  Stonewall  Jackson,  sent  from  London  in 


112     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

1875  by  a  number  of  his  English  admirers  as  a  gift 
to  the  State  of  Virginia.  It  is  of  heroic  size,  stand 
ing  upon  a  pedestal  of  Virginia  granite,  and  is  a 
striking  reproduction.  The  inscription  is :  "  Pre 
sented  by  English  gentlemen  as  a  tribute  of  admira 
tion  for  the  soldier  and  patriot,  Thomas  J.  Jackson, 
and  gratefully  accepted  by  Virginia  in  the  name  of 
the  Southern  people."  Beneath  is  inscribed  in  the 
granite  the  remark  giving  his  sobriquet,  which  was 
made  at  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run  in  1862,  where 
Jackson  commanded  a  brigade.  At  a  time  when  the 
day  was  apparently  lost,  his  troops  made  so  firm  a 
stand  that  some  one,  in  admiration,  called  out  the 
words  that  became  immortal :  "  Look,  there  is  Jack 
son  standing  like  a  stone  wall !"  A  short  distance 
from  the  Capitol  is  the  "  Confederate  White  House," 
a  square-built  dwelling,  with  a  high  porch  in  the  rear 
and  a  small  portico  in  front.  Here  lived  Jefferson 
Davis  during  his  career  as  President  of  the  Con 
federacy  ;  it  is  now  a  museum  of  war  relics.  Nearby 
is  St.  PauFs  Episcopal  Church,  where  Davis  was  at 
tending  service  on  the  eventful  Sunday  morning  in 
April,  1865,  when  he  was  brought  the  fateful  tele 
gram  from  General  Lee  which  said  that  Richmond 
must  be  immediately  evacuated.  In  the  central  part 
of  the  residential  quarter,  on  Franklin  Street,  is  the 
plain  brick  house  which  during  the  Civil  War  was 
the  home  of  General  Lee.  It  is  related  that  after 
the  Appomattox  surrender,  when  he  returned  to  this 


I 

• 


Washington   cMonument,  ^chmond, 


THE  CITY  OF  KICHMOND.  113 

house,  the  people  of  Richmond  got  an  idea  that  he 
was  suffering  privations  and  his  family  needed  the 
necessaries  of  life.  His  son,  Fitz  Hugh  Lee,  after 
wards  said  that  the  people  then  vied  with  each  other 
in  sending  him  everything  imaginable.  So  generous 
were  the  gifts  that  the  upper  parts  of  the  house  were 
filled  with  barrels  of  flour,  meats  and  many  other 
things,  and  the  supplies  became  so  bountiful  that 
Lee  directed  their  distribution  among  the  poor.  This 
house  is  now  occupied  by  the  Virginia  Historical 
Society.  A  magnificent  equestrian  statue  of  General 
Lee  was  erected  on  Park  Avenue  in  1890. 

Some  Richmond  memorials,  however,  antedate  the 
Civil  War.  Its  "first  house" — a  low,  steep-roofed 
stone  cabin  on  the  Main  street,  said  to  have  been 
there  when  the  town  site  was  first  laid  out — is  an  ob 
ject  of  homage.  The  popular  idea  is  that  the  Indian 
King  Powhatan  originally  lived  in  this  house,  but  it 
was  probably  constructed  after  his  time.  Not  far 
away,  upon  Richmond  or  Church  Hill,  stands  St. 
John's  Church  among  the  old  gravestones  in  a 
spacious  churchyard.  It  was  built  in  1740 — a  little 
wooden  church  with  a  small  steeple.  Here  the  first 
Virginian  Convention  was  held  which  paved  the  way 
for  the  Revolution  in  1775,  and  listened  to  Patrick 
Henry's  impassioned  speech — "  Give  me  liberty  or 
give  me  death."  The  pew  in  which  he  stood  while 
speaking  is  still  preserved.  An  adjoining  eminence 
is  called  Libby  Hill,  where  lived  Luther  Libby,  who 
VOL.  L— 8 


114     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

owned  most  of  the  land  thereabout.  Under  its 
shadow  was  the  Libby  Prison  of  the  Civil  War,  since 
removed  to  Chicago  for  exhibition.  It  had  been  a 
tobacco  warehouse,  occupied  by  Libby  &  Co.,  but 
during  the  war  it  held  at  various  times  over  fifty 
thousand  Northern  prisoners.  All  the  captured 
soldiers  were  first  taken  to  Libby,  the  commissioned 
officers  remaining  there,  while  the  privates  were  sent 
to  points  in  the  interior.  The  most  noted  event  in 
the  history  of  this  prison  was  the  boring  of  a  tunnel 
through  the  eastern  wall,  in  February,  1864,  by  which 
one  hundred  and  nine  prisoners,  led  by  Colonel 
Streight,  managed  to  escape  into  an  adjoining  stable 
and  storehouse,  and  though  more  than  half  of  them 
were  recaptured,  the  others  got  safely  out  of  Richmond 
and  into  the  Union  lines. 

The  water  power  of  the  James  River  supplies 
huge  flour  mills  and  other  factories,  and  alongside 
the  stream  are  the  extensive  Tredegar  Iron  Works 
at  the  base  of  Gamble  Hill,  one  of  the  largest  iron 
and  steel  works  in  the  Southern  States.  Here  were 
made  the  Confederate  cannon,  shot  and  shell,  and 
the  primitive  armor  plates  for  their  few  warships. 
This  hill  also  overlooks  the  James  River  and  Kana- 
wha  Canal,  an  interior  water  way  going  westward 
beyond  the  Alleghenies.  In  mid-river  above  is  Belle 
Isle,  a  broad,  flat  island,  which  during  the  war  was 
a  place  of  imprisonment  for  private  soldiers,  but  upon 
it  is  now  an  iron  mill.  Along  the  lower  river  are  the 


THE  CITY  OF  BICHMOND.  115 

wharves  and  shipping,  in  the  section  called  Rock- 
etts,  and  here  are  also  the  tobacco  storehouses  and 
factories,  the  chief  Richmond  industry,  for  it  is  the 
world's  leading  tobacco  mart,  receiving  and  distribut 
ing  most  of  the  product  of  the  rich  soils  of  Virginia, 
Kentucky  and  Carolina.  The  pungent  odor  gener 
ally  pervades  the  town,  for  whichever  way  the  wind 
may  blow  it  wafts  the  perfume  of  a  tobacco  or  ciga 
rette  factory.  The  Tobacco  Exchange  is  the  business 
centre,  and  this  industry  is  of  the  first  importance. 
The  modern-built  City  Hall,  adjacent  to  the  Capitol 
Park,  is  one  of  Richmond's  finest  buildings. 

In  the  western  suburbs,  upon  the  river  bank,  and 
in  a  lovely  position,  is  the  famous  Hollywood  Ceme 
tery,  the  terraced  sides  of  its  ravines  being  occupied 
by  mausoleums  and  graves,  while  in  front  the  rushing 
rapids  roar  a  requiem  for  the  dead.  The  foliage  is 
luxuriant ;  and,  while  occupying  only  about  eighty 
acres,  it  is  a  most  beautiful  burial-place.  Here  are 
interred  two  Virginia  Presidents — James  Monroe  and 
John  Tyler.  An  elaborate  monument  marks  the 
former,  and  a  magnificent  tree  is  planted  at  Tyler's 
grave — his  daughter,  buried  nearby,  having  for  a 
monument  a  tasteful  figure  of  the  Virgin.  The 
Hollywood  Cemetery  Association  is  to  place  a  monu 
ment  on  Tyler's  grave.  Here  are  also  buried  Con 
federate  Generals  A.  P.  HiU,  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  the 
dashing  cavalryman,  and  George  E.  Pickett,  who  led 
the  desperate  Confederate  charge  of  the  Virginia 


116     AMEKICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

Division  at  Gettysburg.  It  also  contains  the  graves 
of  the  eccentric  John  Randolph  of  Roanoke ;  Com 
modore  Maury,  the  navigator  ;  Henry  A.  Wise,  Gov 
ernor  of  Virginia  when  the  State  seceded,  and 
Thomas  Ritchie,  long  editor  of  the  Richmond  En 
quirer,  a  most  powerful  writer  and  political  leader  in 
the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  who  is  re 
garded  in  Virginia  as  the  u  Father  of  the  Democratic 
Party."  There  are  crowded  into  this  cemetery  in 
one  place  twelve  thousand  graves  of  Confederate 
soldiers,  and  in  the  centre  of  the  ghastly  plot  there 
rises  a  huge  stone  pyramid,  ninety  feet  high, 
erected  as  a  memorial  by  the  Southern  women. 
Vines  overrunning  it  almost  conceal  the  rough  joints 
of  the  stones.  No  name  is  upon  it,  for  it  was  built 
as  a  monument  for  the  unnamed  dead.  On  three 
sides  are  inscriptions ;  on  one  "  To  the  Confederate 
Dead ;"  on  another  "  Memoria  in  Sterna,"  and  on  a 
third  "Numini  et  Patrise  Asto."  As  they  fell  on 
the  adjacent  battlefields  or  died  in  the  hospitals,  un 
claimed,  they  were  brought  here  and  buried  in  rows. 
In  one  urgent,  terrible  season,  time  not  being  given 
to  prepare  separate  graves,  the  bodies  were  interred 
on  the  hillside  in  long  trenches.  This  sombre  pyra 
mid  and  its  immediate  surroundings  are  impres 
sive  memorials  of  the  great  war.  From  any  of  the 
Richmond  hills  can  be  seen  other  grim  mementos. 
Almost  all  the  present  city  parks  were  then  army 
hospitals  or  cemeteries ;  all  the  chief  highways  lead 


M'CLELLAN'S  SIEGE  OF  KICHMOND.          117 

out  to  battlefields,  and  most  of  them  in  the  suburbs 
are  bordered  with  the  graves  of  the  dead  of  both 
armies.  All  around  the  compass  the  outlook  is  upon 
battlefields,  and  on  all  sides  but  the  north  upon 
cemeteries. 

M'CLELLAN'S  SIEGE  OF  RICHMOND. 

The  great  memory  of  Richmond  for  all  time  will 
be  of  the  Civil  War,  when  for  three  years  battles 
raged  around  it.  The  first  movement  against  the 
city  was  McClellan's  siege  in  1862,  and  the  environs 
show  abundant  remains  of  the  forts,  redoubts  and 
long  lines  of  earthworks  by  which  the  Confederate 
Capital  was  so  gallantly  defended.  The  earliest  at 
tack  was  by  Union  gunboats  in  May,  1862,  against 
the  batteries  defending  Drewry's  Bluff  on  James 
River,  seven  miles  below  the  town,  the  defensive 
works  being  so  strong  that  little  impression  was 
made,  but  enough  was  learned  to  prevent  any  sub 
sequent  naval  attack  there.  McClellan  came  up  the 
Peninsula  between  James  and  York  Rivers,  ap 
proached  Richmond  from  the  east,  and  extended  his 
army  around  to  the  north,  enveloping  it  upon  a  line 
which  was  the  arc  of  a  circle,  from  seven  miles  east 
to  five  miles  north  of  the  city.  The  Chickahominy 
flows  through  a  broad  and  swampy  depression  in  the 
table-land  north  and  east  of  Richmond,  bordered  by 
meadows,  fens  and  thickets  of  underbrush.  It  thus 
divided  McClellan's  investing  army,  and  the  first 


118     AMEKICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCKIPTIVE. 

great  battle  near  Richmond  was  begun  by  the  Con 
federates,  who  took  advantage  of  a  heavy  rain  late 
in  May  which  had  swollen  the  river  and  swamps. 
They  fell  upon  the  Union  left  wing  on  May  31st,  and 
the  indecisive  battle  of  Fair  Oaks,  in  which  the 
losses  were  ten  thousand  men,  was  fought  southwest 
of  the  Chickahominy.  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston, 
the  Confederate  Commander,  was  badly  wounded, 
and  General  Lee  succeeded  him,  continuing  in  com 
mand  until  the  war  closed.  Extensive  cemeteries 
now  mark  this  battlefield  among  the  swamps.  Dur 
ing  June  the  heat  and  malaria  filled  McClellan's  hos 
pitals  with  fever  cases,  and  he  had  to  move  the 
greater  portion  of  his  army  to  higher  ground  north 
of  the  Chickahominy,  where  he  erected  protective 
earthworks.  These  still  exist,  with  the  formidable 
ranges  of  opposing  Confederate  works  on  the  south 
side  of  the  river. 

One  of  the  most  brilliant  Confederate  movements 
of  the  war  followed.  McClellan's  right  wing  stretched 
around  to  the  village  of  Mechanicsville,  five  miles 
north  of  Richmond,  and  Lee  determined  to  over 
whelm  this  wing.  Stonewall  Jackson  had  been  driv 
ing  the  Union  troops  out  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley 
northwest  of  Richmond,  and  late  in  June  began  a 
combined  movement  with  Lee's  army  at  Richmond. 
Longstreet  and  Hill  crossed  the  Chickahominy  above 
Mechanicsville  and  attacked  the  Union  right,  begin 
ning  the  "  Seven  Days'  Battles,"  lasting  from  June 


M'CLELLAN'S  SIEGE  OF  RICHMOND.          119 

25  to  July  1,  1862.  Jackson  was  to  have  got  down 
the  same  day  from  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  but  his 
march  was  delayed,  and  this  gave  time  for  McClellan 
to  withdraw  his  wing  and  extensive  baggage  trains 
across  the  swamps  below,  the  stubborn  defense  by 
his  rear  guards  making  the  fierce  conflict  of  Graines* 
Mill,  on  the  second  day,  during  which  Jackson, 
coming  from  the  northward  and  joining  the  others, 
compelled  the  Union  lines  to  change  front,  the  con 
test  thus  turning  into  the  first  battle  of  Cold  Harbor, 
in  which  the  rear  held  their  ground  until  the  retreat 
was  completed  across  the  Chickahominy,  and  with 
drew,  destroying  roads  and  bridges  behind  them. 
McClellan  then  made  a  further  retreat,  for  which 
these  obstructive  tactics  gave  time,  across  the  White 
Oak  Swamp  down  the  river,  moving  on  a  single  road, 
leading  to  higher  ground,  which  was  held  by  hasty 
defenses.  The  Confederate  attacks  upon  this  new 
line  made  the  battles  of  Savage  Station,  Charles  City 
Cross  Roads,  and  Frazier's  Farm,  the  pursuit  being 
checked  long  enough  to  permit  another  retreat  and 
the  formation  of  lines  of  defense  on  Malvern  Hill, 
fifteen  miles  southeast  of  Richmond,  adjoining  James 
River.  The  Confederates  again  attacked,  but  met  a 
disastrous  check ;  and,  wearied  by  a  week  of  battles 
and  marches,  they  then  desisted,  closing  the  seven 
days7  fighting,  in  which  both  sides  were  worn  out, 
and  the  losses  were  forty  thousand  men.  McClel- 
lan's  army,  having  retreated  from  around  Richmond, 


120     AMERICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

afterwards  withdrew  farther  down  James  River  to 
Harrison's  Landing,  and  here  they  rested.  Subse 
quently  they  were  removed  by  vessels  to  Washing 
ton  for  the  later  campaign  which  resulted  in  the 
second  battle  of  Bull  Run,  McClellan  being  super 
seded  for  a  brief  period  by  Pope.  This  brilliant 
Confederate  movement  against  McClellan  raised  the 
siege  and  relieved  Richmond,  emboldening  them  to 
make  their  subsequent  aggressive  campaigns  across 
the  Potomac,  which  were  checked  at  Antietam  and 
at  Gettysburg. 

GRANT'S  SIEGE  OF  RICHMOND. 

There  were  no  Union  attacks  directly  against 
Richmond  in  1863.  The  second  great  movement 
upon  the  Confederate  Capital  began  in  June,  1864, 
when  Grant  came  down  through  the  Wilderness,  as 
already  described,  and  attacked  the  Confederates  at 
Cold  Harbor.  Lee  was  entrenched  there  in  almost 
the  same  defensive  position  occupied  by  McClellan's 
rear  when  protecting  his  retreat  across  the  Chicka- 
hominy  two  years  before.  Grant  made  little  impres 
sion,  but  in  a  brief  and  bloody  battle  lost  fifteen 
thousand  men.  He  then  turned  aside  from  this 
almost  impregnable  position  to  the  northeast  of  Rich 
mond,  went  south  to  the  James  River,  and,  crossing 
over,  started  a  new  attack  from  a  different  quarter. 
This  removed  the  seat  of  war  to  the  south  of  Rich 
mond,  and  in  September,  1864,  General  Butler's 


GKANT'S  SIEGE  OF  EICHMOND.  121 

Unionist  troops  from  Bermuda  Hundred  captured 
Fort  Harrison,  a  strong  work  on  the  northeast  side 
of  the  James,  opposite  Drewry's  Bluff,  and  not  far 
from  Malvern  Hill.  The  campaign  then  became  one 
of  stubborn  persistence.  Throughout  the  autumn 
and  winter  Grant  gradually  spread  his  lines  west 
ward  around  Petersburg,  so  that  the  later  movements 
were  more  a  siege  of  that  city  than  of  Richmond. 
City  Point,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Appomattox,  flowing 
out  from  Petersburg  to  the  James,  became  his  base 
of  supplies.  As  the  Union  lines  were  extended 
steadily  westward,  one  railway  after  another,  leading 
from  the  far  South  up  to  Petersburg  and  Richmond, 
was  cut  off,  and  Lee  was  ultimately  starved  out,  forc 
ing  the  abandonment  of  Petersburg  in  the  early 
spring  of  1865,  and  the  evacuation  of  Richmond  on 
April  3d,  with  the  retreat  of  Lee  westward,  and  the 
final  surrender  at  Appomattox  six  days  later,  caus 
ing  the  downfall  of  the  Confederacy,  and  ending  the 
war. 

From  the  top  of  Libby  Hill  in  Richmond  the  route 
is  still  pointed  out  by  which  the  swiftly  moving 
Union  troops,  after  that  fateful  Sunday  of  the  evacu 
ation,  advanced  over  the  level  lands  from  Petersburg 
towards  the  burning  city.  The  bridges  across  the 
James  were  burnt,  and  acres  of  buildings  in  the 
business  section  were  in  flames  when  they  came  to 
the  river  bank  and  found  that  the  greater  portion  of 
the  affrighted  people  had  fled.  The  Yankees  quickly 


122     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

laid  a  pontoon  bridge,  crossed  to  Shockoe  Hill, 
rushed  up  to  the  Capitol,  and  raised  the  Union 
"  Stars  and  Stripes  "  on  the  roof,  replacing  the  Con 
federate  "  Stars  and  Bars."  Then  they  went  vigor 
ously  to  work  putting  out  the  fires,  and  the  new  infu 
sion  of  life  given  the  city  by  its  baptism  of  blood 
imparted  an  energy  which  has  not  only  restored  it, 
but  has  given  it  an  era  of  great  prosperity.  It  is  a 
curious  fact  that  the  nearest  approach  any  Northern 
troops  made  to  Richmond  during  the  progress  of  the 
war  was  in  March,  1864.  A  precursor  to  Grant's 
march  through  the  Wilderness  was  a  dashing  cavalry 
raid  from  the  northward,  the  troopers  crossing  the 
Chickahominy,  then  unguarded,  and  advancing  to  a 
point  about  one  mile  from  the  city  limits.  Here  they 
met  some  resistance,  and,  learning  of  defensive  works 
farther  ahead,  General  Kilpatrick,  who  commanded 
the  raiders,  retreated.  General  Lee's  troops  were 
then  fifty  miles  away  from  Richmond,  guarding  the 
lines  along  the  Rappahannock. 

PIEDMONT   AND   THE    SHENANDOAH   VALLEY. 

In  the  great  strategic  movements  of  the  opposing 
armies  of  the  Civil  War  they  repeatedly  traversed 
a  large  part  of  Virginia  and  Maryland  to  the  north 
west  of  the  route  between  Washington  and  Rich 
mond.  Like  the  general  coastal  formation  east  of 
the  Alleghenies,  Virginia  rises  into  successive  ridges 
parallel  with  the  mountains.  The  first  range  of  low 


PIEDMONT  AND  THE  SHENANDOAH  VALLEY.      123 

broken  hills  stretching  southwest  from  the  Potomac 
are  called  in  different  parts  the  Kittoctin,  Bull  Run 
and  other  mountains  extending  down  to  the  Carolina 
boundary.  From  these,  what  is  known  as  the  Pied 
mont  district  stretches  all  across  the  State,  and  has  a 
width  of  about  twenty-five  miles  to  the  base  of  the 
Blue  Ridge,  being  a  succession  of  picturesque  val 
leys  and  rolling  lands,  the  general  elevation  gradu 
ally  increasing  towards  the  northwest,  where  it  is 
bordered  by  the  towering  Blue  Ridge  and  its  many 
spurs  and  plateaus,  with  passages  through  at  various 
gaps.  The  Blue  Ridge  is  elevated  about  fifteen  hun 
dred  feet  at  the  Potomac,  but  Mount  Marshall,  at 
Front  Royal,  rises  nearly  thirty-four  hundred  feet, 
and  the  Peaks  of  Otter,  farther  southwest,  are  much 
higher.  Beyond  this  is  the  great  Appalachian  Val 
ley,  which  stretches  from  New  England  to  Alabama, 
the  section  here  being  known  as  the  "  Valley  of  Vir 
ginia,"  and  its  northern  portion  as  the  Shenandoah 
Valley.  This  is  a  belt  of  rolling  country,  with  many 
hills  and  vales,  diversified  by  streams  that  wind 
among  the  hillsides,  and  having  a  varying  breadth 
of  ten  to  fifty  miles  in  different  parts.  Beyond  it,  to 
the  northwest,  are  the  main  Allegheny  Mountain 
ranges.  The  opposing  troops  marched  and  fought 
over  all  this  country  in  connection  with  the  greater 
military  movements,  and  here  was  the  special  thea 
tre  of  Stonewall  Jackson's  exploits  and  his  wonder 
ful  marches  and  quick  manosuvres  which  made  his 


124     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

troops  proudly  style  themselves  his  "  foot  cavalry." 
The  memory  of  Jackson  is  cherished  by  the  South 
ern  people  more  than  that  of  any  other  of  their 
leaders  in  the  Civil  War,  and  his  brilliant  exploits 
and  inopportune  death  have  made  him  their  special 
hero. 

In  the  Piedmont  region,  to  the  southeast  and  in 
front  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  are  the  towns  of  Leesburg, 
Manassas,  Warrenton,  Culpepper,  Orange  and  Char- 
lottesville,  all  well  known  in  connection  with  the  op 
posing  military  movements.  Charlottesville,  about 
sixty-five  miles  northwest  of  Richmond,  in  a  beauti 
ful  situation,  was  an  important  Confederate  base  of 
supplies.  Here  are  now  about  six  thousand  people, 
and  the  town  has  its  chief  fame  as  the  seat  of  the 
University  of  Virginia  and  the  home  of  Thomas 
Jefferson.  The  University  was  founded  mainly 
through  the  exertions  of  Jefferson,  and  has  some 
five  hundred  students.  Its  buildings  are  a  mile  out 
of  town,  and  the  original  ones  were  constructed  from 
Jefferson's  designs  and  under  his  supervision,  the 
chief  being  the  Rotunda,  recently  rebuilt,  and  the 
modern  structures  for  a  Museum  of  Natural  History 
and  an  Observatory.  Jefferson  was  proud  of  this 
institution,  and  in  the  inscription  which  he  prepared 
for  his  tomb  described  himself  as  the  "  author  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  of  the  statute  of 
Virginia  for  religious  freedom,  and  father  of  the 
University  of  Virginia."  Among  its  most  famous 


PIEDMONT  AND  THE  SHENANDOAH  VALLEY.      125 

students  was  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  and  a  fine  bronze 
bust  of  him  was  unveiled  at  the  University  in  1899, 
on  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  death.  Thomas 
Jefferson  lived  at  Monticello,  the  old  house  being 
an  interesting  specimen  of  early  Virginia  archi 
tecture,  and  standing  on  a  hill  southeast  of  the  town. 
Here  he  died  just  fifty  years  after  the  Declaration 
was  promulgated,  July  4,  1826,  and  he  is  buried  in 
the  family  graveyard  near  the  house.  Monticello  is 
now  celebrated  for  its  native  wines. 

The  Shenandoah  Valley  during  the  war  was  noted 
for  the  way  in  which  the  opposing  forces  chased  each 
other  up  and  down,  with  repeated  severe  battles. 
Here  was  fought,  in  June,  1862,  the  battle  of  Cross 
Keys,  near  the  forks  of  the  Shenandoah.  Jackson 
had  previously  retreated  up  the  Valley,  but  by  a 
series  of  brilliant  movements,  begun  after  the  battle 
of  Fair  Oaks  before  Richmond,  he  was  able  to  meet 
and  defeat  in  detail  the  various  armies  under  Banks, 
Fremont,  McDowell  and  Shields,  thus  managing  to 
foil  or  hold  in  check  seventy  thousand  men,  while  his 
own  troops  were  never  more  than  twenty  thousand. 
Then  coming  southward  out  of  the  Valley,  he  joined 
in  turning  McClellan's  right  wing  before  Richmond 
at  the  end  of  June,  afterwards  following  up  Banks 
in  August,  and  defeating  him  at  Cedar  Mountain,  near 
Culpepper ;  then  joining  in  the  defeat  of  Pope  at  the 
second  battle  of  Bull  Run ;  then  capturing  Harper's 
Ferry  and  eleven  thousand  men  September  15th? 


126     AMEEICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

and  finally  taking  part  in  the  battle  of  Antietam  two 
days  later.  When  Grant  began  his  siege  of  Rich 
mond  after  the  second  battle  of  Cold  Harbor,  in  1864, 
he  made  General  Sheridan  commander  of  the  troops 
in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and  fortune  turned. 
Sheridan  opposed  Early,  and  in  September  and  Oc 
tober  had  a  series  of  brilliant  victories,  the  last  one 
at  Cedar  Creek,  where  he  turned  a  rout  into  a  vic 
tory  by  his  prompt  movements.  Sheridan  had  been 
in  Washington,  and  came  to  Winchester,  "  twenty 
miles  away,"  where  he  heard  "  the  terrible  grumble 
and  rumble  and  roar "  of  the  battle,  and  made  his 
noted  ride,  the  exploit  being  so  conspicuous  that  he 
received  the  thanks  of  Congress.  Early  in  1865  he 
made  a  cavalry  raid  from  Winchester,  in  the  Valley, 
down  to  the  westward  of  Richmond,  around  Lee's 
lines,  and  rejoined  the  army  at  Petersburg,  having 
destroyed  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal  and 
cut  various  important  railway  connections  in  the  Con 
federate  rear.  The  Shenandoah  Valley  to-day  is 
very  much  in  its  primitive  condition  of  agriculture, 
but  has  been  opened  up  by  railway  connections  which 
develop  its  resources,  and  its  great  present  attraction 
is  the  Cave  of  Luray.  This  cavern  is  about  five 
miles  from  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  some  distance  south 
west  of  Front  Royal.  It  is  a  compact  cavern,  well 
lighted  by  electricity,  and  is  more  completely  and 
profusely  decorated  with  stalactites  and  stalagmites 
than  any  other  in  the  world.  Some  of  the  chambers 


THE  BATTLEFIELD  OF  GETTYSBUKG.    127 

are  very  imposing,  and  all  the  more  important  for 
mations  have  been  appropriately  named.  The 
scenery  of  the  neighborhood  is  picturesque,  and 
the  cavern  has  many  visitors. 

THE  BATTLEFIELD  OF  GETTYSBURG. 

In  considering  the  great  theatre  of  the  Civil  War, 
attention  is  naturally  directed  to  the  chief  contest  of 
all,  and  the  turning-point  of  the  rebellion,  the  battle 
of  Gettysburg,  fought  at  the  beginning  of  July, 
1863.  After  the  victory  at  Chancellorsville  in  May 
the  Confederates  determined  to  carry  the  war  north 
ward  into  the  enemy's  country.  Gettysburg  is  seven 
miles  north  of  the  southern  boundary  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  over  forty  miles  from  the  Potomac  River.  To 
the  westward  is  the  long  curving  range  of  the  South 
Mountain,  and  beyond  this  the  great  Appalachian 
Valley,  a  continuation  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley, 
crossing  Central  Pennsylvania  in  a  curve,  and  here 
called  the  Cumberland  Valley.  In  the  latter  are  two 
prominent  towns,  Chambersburg  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  Hagerstown  in  Maryland,  on  the  Potomac. 
General  Lee,  in  preparation  for  the  march  north 
ward,  gathered  nearly  ninety  thousand  men  at  Cul- 
pepper  in  Virginia,  including  Stuart's  cavalry  force 
of  ten  thousand.  General  Hooker's  Union  army, 
which  had  withdrawn  across  the  Rappahannock  after 
Chancellorsville,  was  then  encamped  opposite  Freder- 
icksburg,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  south  of 


128     AMEKICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

Gettysburg.  Lee  started  northward  across  the  Po 
tomac,  but  Hooker  did  not  discover  it  for  some  days, 
and  then  rapidly  followed.  The  Confederates  crossed 
between  June  22d  and  25th,  and  concentrated  at 
Hagerstown,  in  the  Cumberland  Valley,  up  which 
they  made  a  rapid  march,  overrunning  the  entire 
valley  to  the  Susquehanna  River,  and  appearing  op 
posite  Harrisburg  and  Columbia.  Hooker,  being 
late  in  movement,  crossed  the  Potomac  lower  down 
than  Lee,  on  June  28th,  thus  making  a  northern 
race,  up  the  curving  valleys,  with  Lee  in  advance, 
but  on  the  longer  route  of  the  outer  circle.  There 
was  a  garrison  of  ten  thousand  men  at  Harper's 
Ferry  on  the  Potomac,  and  Hooker  asked  that  they 
be  added  to  his  army  j  but  the  War  Department  de 
clined,  and  Hooker  immediately  resigned,  being  suc 
ceeded  by  General  George  G.  Meade,  who  thus  on 
the  eve  of  the  battle  became  the  Union  commander. 

There  are  two  parallel  ridges  bordering  the  plain 
on  which  Gettysburg  stands.  The  long  Seminary 
Ridge,  stretching  from  north  to  south  about  a  mile 
west  of  the  town,  gets  its  name  from  the  Lutheran 
Theological  Seminary  standing  upon  it ;  and  the 
Cemetery  Ridge  to  the  south  of  the  town,  which 
partly  stretches  up  its  slopes,  has  on  its  northern 
flat-topped  hill  the  village  cemetery,  wherein  the 
principal  grave  then  was  that  of  James  Gettys,  after 
whom  the  place  was  named.  There  is  an  outlying 
eminence  called  Gulp's  Hill  farther  to  the  east,  mak- 


THE  BATTLEFIELD  OF  GETTYSBUKG.         129 

ing,  with  the  Cemetery  Ridge,  a  formation  bent 
around  much  like  a  fish-hook,  with  the  graveyard  at 
the  bend  and  Gulp's  Hill  at  the  barb,  while  far  down 
at  the  southern  end  of  the  long  straight  shank,  as  the 
ridge  extends  for  two  miles  away,  with  an  interven 
ing  rocky  gorge  called  the  Devil's  Den,  there  are 
two  peaks,  formed  of  tree-covered  crags,  known  as 
the  Little  Round  Top  and  the  Big  Round  Top. 
These  long  parallel  ridges,  with  the  intervale  and 
the  country  immediately  around  them,  are  the  battle 
field,  which  the  topographical  configuration  well  dis 
plays.  It  covers  about  twenty -five  square  miles,  and 
lies  mainly  southwest  of  the  town. 

It  was  on  June  28th  that  General  Meade  unex 
pectedly  assumed  command  of  the  Union  army,  and 
he  was  then  near  the  Potomac.  General  Ewell  with 
the  Confederate  advance  guard  had  gone  up  the 
Cumberland  Valley  as  far  as  Carlisle,  and  his  troopers 
were  threatening  Harrisburg.  Nobody  had  opposed 
them,  and  the  Confederate  main  body,  which  had 
got  much  ahead  of  Hooker,  was  at  Chambersburg. 
Lee  being  far  from  his  base,  and  hearing  of  the  Union 
pursuit,  then  determined  to  face  about  and  cripple 
his  pursuers,  fixing  upon  Gettysburg  as  the  point  of 
concentration.  He  ordered  Ewell  to  march  south 
from  Carlisle,  and  the  other  commanders  east  from 
Chambersburg  through  the  mountain  passes.  The 
Union  cavalry  advance  under  General  Buford  reached 
Gettysburg  on  June  30th,  ahead  of  the  Confederates, 
VOL.  I.— 9 


130     AMEKICA,  PICTTJKESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

and  Meade's  army  was  then  stretched  over  the 
ground  for  more  than  forty  miles  back  to  the  Po 
tomac,  all  coming  forward  by  forced  marches.  As 
soon  as  Meade  became  aware  of  Lee's  changed  tac 
tics  he  concluded  that  this  extended  formation  was 
too  risky,  and  decided  to  concentrate  in  a  strong 
position  upon  the  Pipe  Creek  hills  in  Maryland,  about 
fifteen  miles  south  of  Gettysburg,  and  issued  the 
necessary  orders.  Thus  the  battle  opened,  with  each 
army  executing  a  movement  for  concentration. 

THE   GREAT   BATTLE. 

The  battle  began  on  July  1st,  the  Union  Cavalry, 
which  had  gone  out  to  the  west  and  north  of  Gettys 
burg,  becoming  engaged  with  the  Confederate  ad 
vance  approaching  the  town  from  the  passes  through 
the  South  Mountain.  The  cavalry,  at  first  victori 
ous,  was  soon  overwhelmed  by  superior  numbers, 
and  infantry  supports  arrived,  under  General  Rey 
nolds  ;  but  he  was  killed,  and  they  were  all  driven 
back  and  through  Gettysburg  to  the  cemetery  and 
Gulp's  Hill,  which  were  manned  by  fresh  troops  that 
had  come  up.  Meade  was  then  at  Pipe  Creek,  lay 
ing  out  a  defensive  line,  but  when  he  heard  of  Rey 
nolds7  death  and  the  defeat,  he  sent  General  Hancock 
forward  to  take  command,  who  decided  that  the 
Cemetery  Ridge  was  the  place  to  give  battle.  Ewell 
had  in  the  meantime  extended  the  Confederate  left 
wing  around  to  the  east  of  Gulp's  Hill  and  held 


THE  GREAT  BATTLE.  131 

Gettysburg,  but  active  operations  were  suspended, 
and  the  night  was  availed  of  by  both  sides  to  get 
their  forces  up  and  into  position,  which  was  mainly 
accomplished  by  morning. 

When  the  second  day,  July  2d,  opened,  the  armies 
confronted  each  other  in  line  of  battle.  The  Union 
troops  were  along  the  Cemetery  Ridge  and  the  Con 
federates  upon  the  Seminary  Ridge,  across  the  inter 
vale  to  the  west,  their  lines  also  stretching  around 
through  Gettysburg  to  the  north  of  the  cemetery, 
and  two  miles  east  along  the  base  of  Gulp's  Hill.  In 
the  long  intervening  valley,  and  in  the  ravines  and 
upon  the  slopes  of  the  Cemetery  Ridge  and  Gulp's 
Hill,  the  main  battle  was  fought.  The  attack  began 
by  General  Longstreet  advancing  against  the  two 
Round  Tops,  but  after  a  bloody  contest  he  was  re 
pulsed.  General  Sickles,  who  held  the  line  to  the 
south  of  the  Little  Round  Top,  then  thought  he  could 
improve  his  position  by  advancing  a  half-mile  into 
the  valley  towards  the  Seminary  Ridge,  thus  making 
a  broken  Union  line,  with  a  portion  dangerously 
thrust  forward.  The  enemy  soon  took  advantage 
of  this,  and  fell  upon  Sickles,  front  and  flank,  almost 
overwhelming  his  line  in  the  "  Peach  Orchard,"  and 
driving  it  back  to  the  adjacent  u  Wheat  Field."  Re 
inforcements  were  quickly  poured  in,  and  there  was 
a  hot  conflict,  Sickles  being  seriously  wounded  and 
his  troops  almost  cut  to  pieces.  About  the  same 
time  Ewell  made  a  terrific  charge  out  of  Gettysburg 


132     AMEKICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

upon  the  Cemetery  and  Gulp's  Hill,  with  the  "  Louisi 
ana  Tigers  "  and  other  troops,  effecting  a  lodgement, 
although  the  defending  soldiers  wrought  great  havoc 
by  a  heavy  cannonade.  The  Union  gunners  on  Lit 
tle  Round  Top  ultimately  cleared  the  "  Wheat  Field," 
and  then  the  combatants  rested.  Lee  was  much  in 
spirited  by  his  successes,  and  determined  to  renew 
the  attack  next  morning. 

Upon  the  third  and  last  day,  July  3d,  General 
Meade  opened  the  combat  early  in  the  morning  by 
driving  out  EwelPs  forces,  who  had  effected  a  lodge 
ment  on  Gulp's  Hill.  General  Lee  did  not  learn  of 
this,  but  he  was  full  of  the  idea  that  both  the  Union 
centre  and  right  wing  had  been  weakened  the  pre 
vious  day,  and  during  the  night  he  planned  an  attack 
in  front,  to  be  accompanied  by  a  cavalry  movement 
around  the  Union  right  to  assail  the  rear,  thus  fol 
lowing  up  EwelPs  supposed  advantage.  To  give 
Stuart  with  the  cavalry  time  to  get  around  to  the 
rear,  the  front  attack  was  not  made  until  afternoon. 
During  the  morning  each  side  got  cannon  into  posi 
tion,  Lee  having  one  hundred  and  twenty  guns  along 
Seminary  Ridge,  and  Meade  eighty  in  the  Cemetery 
and  southward,  along  a  low,  irregular  stone  pile, 
forming  a  sort  of  rude  wall  bordering  the  road  lead 
ing  from  Gettysburg  south  to  Taneytown,  in  Mary 
land.  The  action  began  about  one  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  when  the  Confederates  opened  fire,  and 
the  most  terrific  artillery  duel  of  the  war  took  place 


THE  GREAT  BATTLE.  133 

across  the  intervening  valley,  six  guns  being  dis 
charged  every  second.  The  troops  suffered  little,  as 
they  kept  down  in  the  ground,  but  several  Union 
guns  were  dismounted.  After  two  hours  deafening 
cannonade  Lee  ordered  his  grand  attack,  the  cele 
brated  charge  by  General  Pickett,  a  force  of  fourteen 
thousand  men  with  brigade  front  advancing  across 
the  valley.  They  marched  swiftly,  and  had  a  mile 
to  go,  but  before  they  were  half-way  across  all  the 
available  Union  guns  had  been  trained  upon  them. 
Their  attack  was  directed  at  an  umbrella-shaped 
clump  of  trees  on  the  Cemetery  Kidge  at  a  low  place 
where  the  rude  stone  wall  made  an  angle,  with  its 
point  outside.  General  Hancock  commanded  this 
portion  of  the  Union  line.  The  grape  and  canister 
of  the  Union  cannonade  ploughed  furrows  through 
Pickett's  ranks,  and  when  his  column  got  within  three 
hundred  yards,  Hancock  opened  musketry  fire  with 
terrible  effect.  Thousands  fell,  and  the  brigades 
broke  in  disorder ;  but  the  advance,  headed  by  Gen 
eral  Armistead  on  foot,  continued,  and  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  men  leaped  over  the  stone  piles  at 
the  angle  to  capture  the  Union  guns.  Lieutenant 
Gushing,  mortally  wounded  in  both  thighs,  ran  his 
last  serviceable  gun  towards  the  wall,  and  shouting  to 
his  commander,  "  Webb,  I  will  give  them  one  more 
shot !"  he  fired  the  gun  and  died.  Armistead  put  his 
hand  on  the  cannon,  Waved  his  sword,  and  called 
out,  "  Give  them  the  cold  steel,  boys  !"  then,  pierced 


134     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

by  bullets,  he  fell  dead  alongside  of  Gushing.  Both 
lay  near  the  clump  of  trees,  about  thirty  yards  inside 
the  wall,  their  corpses  marking  the  farthest  point  to 
which  Pickett's  advance  penetrated.  There  was  a 
hand  to  hand  conflict ;  Webb  was  wounded,  and  also 
Hancock,  and  the  slaughter  was  dreadful.  The  Con 
federates  were  overwhelmed,  and  not  one-fourth  of 
the  gallant  charging  column,  composed  of  the  flower 
of  the  Virginia  troops,  escaped,  the  remnant  retreat 
ing  in  disorder.  Stuart's  cavalry  failed  to  cooperate 
as  intended,  having  met  the  Union  cavalry  about 
four  miles  to  the  east  of  Gettysburg,  and  the  conflict 
ensuing  prevented  their  attacking  the  Union  rear. 
After  Pickett's  retreat  there  was  a  general  Union  ad 
vance,  closing  the  combat. 

The  point  within  the  angle  of  the  stone  wall  where 
Gushing  and  Armistead  fell  has  been  commemorated 
by  what  is  known  as  the  "  High- Water  Mark  Monu 
ment,"  for  it  was  placed  at  the  point  reached  by  the 
top  of  the  flood-tide  of  the  rebellion,  as  afterwards 
there  was  a  steady  ebb.  During  the  night  of  July 
3d  Lee  began  a  retreat,  and  aided  by  heavy  rains, 
usually  following  great  battles,  the  Confederates  next 
day  withdrew  through  the  mountain  passes  towards 
Hagerstown,  and  afterwards  escaped  across  the  Po 
tomac.  Upon  the  day  of  Lee's  retreat,  Vicksburg 
surrendered  to  General  Grant,  and  these  two  events 
began  the  Confederacy's  downfall.  There  were  en 
gaged  in  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  about  eighty  thou- 


THE  GETTYSBURG  MONUMENTS.  135 

sand  men  on  each  side,  the  Union  army  having  three 
hundred  and  thirty-nine  cannon  and  the  Confeder 
ates  two  hundred  and  ninety -three.  It  was  the  larg 
est  battle  of  the  Civil  War  in  the  actual  numbers  en 
gaged,  and  one  of  the  most  hotly  contested.  The 
Union  loss  was  twenty-three  thousand  and  three 
killed,  wounded  and  prisoners,  and  the  Confederate 
loss  twenty-three  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight. 

THE   GETTYSBURG   MONUMENTS. 

The  battlefield  of  Gettysburg  is  better  marked, 
both  topographically  and  by  monuments,  than  prob 
ably  any  other  battlefield  in  the  world.  Over  a  mil 
lion  dollars  have  been  expended  on  the  grounds  and 
monuments.  The  "  Gettysburg  Battlefield  Memorial 
Association,"  representing  the  soldiers  engaged,  has 
marked  all  the  important  points,  and  the  tracts  along 
the  lines,  over  four  hundred  and  fifty  acres,  have  been 
acquired,  so  as  to  thoroughly  preserve  all  the  land 
marks  where  the  most  important  movements  were 
executed.  There  are  some  five  hundred  monuments 
upon  the  field,  placed  with  the  utmost  care  in  the 
exact  localities,  and  standing  in  woods  or  on  open 
ground,  by  the  roadsides,  on  stony  heights  and  ridges 
in  gardens,  and  of  all  designs,  executed  in  bronze, 
marble,  granite,  on  boulders  and  otherwise.  Marking- 
posts  also  designate  the  positions  of  the  various  or 
ganizations  in  the  opposing  armies.  To  the  north 
and  west  of  Gettysburg  is  the  scene  of  the  first  day's 


136     AMEKICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCKIPTIVE. 

contest,  but  the  more  interesting  part  is  to  the  south 
ward.  Ascending  the  Cemetery  Hill,  there  is  passed, 
by  the  roadside,  the  house  of  Jenny  Wade,  the  only 
woman  killed  in  the  battle,  accidentally  shot  while 
baking  bread.  The  rounded  Cemetery  Hill  is  an 
elevated  and  strong  position  having  many  monu 
ments,  and  here,  alongside  the  little  village  grave 
yard,  the  Government  established  a  National  Ceme 
tery  of  seventeen  acres,  where  thirty -five  hundred 
and  seventy -two  soldiers  are  buried,  over  a  thousand 
being  the  unknown  dead.  A  magnificent  battle 
monument  is  here  erected,  surmounted  by  a  statue 
of  Liberty,  and  at  the  base  of  the  shaft  having  figures 
of  War,  History,  Peace  and  Plenty.  This  charming 
spot  was  the  centre  of  the  Union  line,  then  a  rough, 
rocky  hill.  The  cemetery  was  dedicated  in  Novem 
ber,  1863,  Edward  Everett  delivering  the  oration, 
and  the  monument  on  July  1,  1869.  At  the  ceme 
tery  dedication  President  Lincoln  made  the  famous 
"  twenty-line  address "  which  is  regarded  as  the 
most  immortal  utterance  of  the  martyr  President, 
and  has  become  an  American  classic.  The  British 
Westminster  Review  described  it  as  an  oration  having 
but  one  equal,  in  that  pronounced  upon  those  who 
fell  during  the  first  year  of  the  Peloponnesian  War, 
and  as  being  its  superior,  because  "  natural,  fuller  of 
feeling,  more  touching  and  pathetic,  and  we  know 
with  an  absolute  certainty  that  it  was  really  de 
livered."  The  President  was  requested  to  say  a  few 


THE  GETTYSBUKG  MONUMENTS.  137 

words  by  way  of  dedication,  and  drawing  from  his 
pocket  a  crumpled  piece  of  paper  on  which  he  had 
written  some  notes,  he  spoke  as  follows : 

"Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers 
brought  forth  upon  this  continent  a  new  Nation, 
conceived  in  liberty  and  dedicated  to  the  proposition 
that  all  men  are  created  equal.  Now  we  are  engaged 
in  a  great  civil  war,  testing  whether  that  nation  or 
any  nation,  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated,  can  long 
endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great  battlefield  of  that 
war.  We  are  met  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  it  as  the 
final  resting-place  of  those  who  here  gave  their  lives 
that  that  nation  might  live.  It  is  altogether  fitting 
and  proper  that  we  should  do  this.  But,  in  a  larger 
sense,  we  cannot  dedicate,  we  cannot  consecrate,  we 
cannot  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave  men,  living 
and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  consecrated  it 
far  above  our  power  to  add  or  detract.  The  world 
will  little  note,  nor  long  remember,  what  we  say  here, 
but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is  for 
us,  the  living,  rather  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the  un 
finished  work  that  they  have  thus  far  so  nobly  car 
ried  on.  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to 
the  great  task  remaining  before  us — that  from  these 
honored  dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to  the  cause 
for  which  they  here  gave  the  last  full  measure  of  de 
votion — that  we  here  highly  resolve  that  the  dead 
shall  not  have  died  in  vain — that  the  nation  shall, 
under  God,  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom,  and  that 


138     AMEEICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the 
people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth." 

A  mile  across  the  valley  the  Lutheran  Seminary  is 
seen,  the  most  conspicuous  landmark  of  the  Confed 
erate  line.  To  the  southeast  from  the  cemetery  is 
Gulp's  Hill,  strewn  with  rocks  and  boulders  and  cov 
ered  with  trees.  The  Emmettsburg  road  goes  south 
ward  down  the  valley,  gradually  diverging  from  the 
Union  line,  and  crossing  the  fields  that  were  the 
battleground  on  the  second  and  third  days.  It  is 
bordered  by  numerous  monuments,  some  of  great 
merit,  and  leads  to  the  "  Peach  Orchard,"  where  the 
line  bends  sharply  back.  Peach  trees  are  replanted 
here  as  the  old  ones  fall.  The  "Wheat  Field"  is 
alongside,  now  grass-grown.  Beyond  it  the  surface 
goes  down  among  the  crags  and  broken  stones  of  the 
"Devil's  Den,"  a  ravine  through  which  flows  a 
stream,  coming  from  the  orchard  and  wheat  field, 
and  separating  them  from  the  rocky  "  Round  Tops," 
the  sandstone  cliffs  of  the  "Little  Round  Top" 
rising  high  above  the  ravine.  The  fields  sloping  to 
the  stream  above  the  Den  are  known  as  the  "  Valley 
of  Death."  Among  these  rocks  there  are  many 
monuments,  made  of  the  boulders  that  are  so  numer 
ous.  A  toilsome  path  mounts  the  "  Big  Round  Top  " 
beyond,  and  an  Observatory  on  the  summit  gives  a 
good  view  over  almost  the  entire  battlefield.  This 
summit,  more  than  three  miles  south  of  Gettysburg, 
has  tall  timber,  preserved  as  it  was  in  the  battle. 


THE  GETTYSBURG  MONUMENTS.  139 

There  are  cannon  surmounting  the  "  Round  Tops/' 
representing  the  batteries  in  action.  Across  the 
valley  to  the  west  is  the  long  fringe  of  timber  that 
masked  the  Confederate  position  on  Seminary  Ridge. 
A  picnic-ground,  with  access  by  railway,  is  located 
alongside  the  "  Round  Tops."  The  lines  of  breast 
works  are  maintained,  and  upon  the  lower  ground, 
not  far  away,  are  preserved  the  rough  stone  walls, 
and  to  the  northward  is  the  little  umbrella-shaped 
grove  of  trees  at  which  Pickett's  charge  was  directed. 
The  Twentieth  Massachusetts  regiment  brought  here 
a  huge  conglomerate  boulder  from  New  England  and 
set  it  up  as  their  monument,  their  Colonel,  Paul 
Revere,  being  killed  in  the  battle. 

There  was  no  fighting  along  the  Confederate  line 
on  Seminary  Ridge  until  the  scene  of  the  first  day's 
conflict  is  reached,  to  the  northwest  of  Gettysburg. 
Here  is  marked  where  General  Reynolds  fell,  just 
within  a  grove  of  trees,  and  a  fine  equestrian  statue 
of  him  has  been  erected  on  the  field.  From  his  un 
timely  death,  Reynolds  is  regarded  as  the  special 
Union  hero  of  the  battle,  as  Armistead  was  the 
Southern.  Nearby  a  spirited  statue,  the  "  Massachu 
setts  Color-Bearer/'  holds  aloft  the  flag  of  the  Thir 
teenth  Massachusetts  regiment,  standing  upon  a  slope, 
thus  marking  the  spot  where  he  fell  at  the  opening 
of  the  conflict.  Such  is  the  broad  and  impressive 
scene  of  one  of  the  leading  battles  of  the  world,  and 
the  greatest  ever  fought  in  America.  But  happily 


140     AMEKICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

the  passions  which  caused  it  have  been  stilled,  and 
the  combatants  are  now  again  united  in  their  patri 
otic  devotion  to  a  common  country.  As  Longfellow 
solemnly  sounds  his  invocation  in  the  Building  of  the 
Ship,  so  now  do  all  the  people  in  the  reunited  Union : 

"Thus  too,  sail  on,  O  Ship  of  State  ! 
Sail  on,  O  Union,  strong  and  great ! 
Humanity  with  all  its  fears, 
With  all  the  hopes  of  future  years, 
Is  hanging  breathless  on  thy  fate  1" 


THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  DELAWARE 


m. 

THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  DELAWARE. 

Delaware  Bay — Cape  May — Cape  Henlopen — Delaware  Break 
water — Maurice  Biver  Cove — The  Pea  Patch — Newcastle — 
Mason  and  Dixon's  Line — Fort  Christina — Wilmington — 
The  Duponts — Brandywine — William  Penn — West  Jersey — 
Pennsylvania— Upland— The  Ship  " Welcome"—  Philadel 
phia — Shackamaxon — The  Lenni  Lenapes — The  City  Hall — 
Independence  Hall — Benjamin  Franklin — Betsy  Ross  and 
the  American  Flag — Stephen  Girard — Girard  College— Nota 
ble  Charities  and  Buildings— Christ  Church— Old  Swedes' 
Church — Longfellow's  Evangeline — Cathedral  of  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Paul — University  of  Pennsylvania — City  of  Homes — 
John  Bartram  and  his  Garden — Fairmount  Park — Laurel 
Hill — Wissahickon  Creek — Germantown — Johannes  Kelpius 
— The  Schuylkill  Biver — Tom  Moore — Pennsylvania  Dutch — 
Valley  Forge— Beading— Port  Clinton— Pottsville— Anthra 
cite  Coal-fields— New  Jersey  Coast  Besorts— Atlantic  City- 
Ocean  Grove — Asbury  Park — Long  Branch — St.  Tammany — 
Poquessing — Kancocas — The  Neshaminy — The  Log  College — 
Bristol — Burlington — Pennsbury  Manor — Bordentown — Ad 
miral  Stewart — Joseph  Bonaparte — Camden  and  Amboy  Bail- 
road — Delaware  and  Baritan  Canal — Trenton  Gravel — Tren 
ton,  its  Potteries,  Crackers  and  Battle — The  Swamp  Angel — 
Morrisville — General  Moreau — Princeton  and  its  Battle — 
General  Mercer — Princeton  University — Jonathan  Edwards 
— Marshall's  Walk — Pennsylvania  Palisades — Forks  of  the 
Delaware — Easton — Lafayette  College — Ario  Pardee — Phil- 
lipsburg — Morris  Canal — Lake  Hopatcong — Lehigh  River — 
Bethlehem — Lehigh  University — The  Moravians — Count  Zln- 
zendorf — Teedyuscung  —  Allentown  —  Lehigh  Gap  — Mauch 
Chunk  — Asa  Packer  — Coal  Mining— Summit  Hill  — The 

(143) 


144     AMEEICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

Switchback  —  Nescopec  Mountain  —  Wyoming  Valley  — 
Wilkesbarre — Harvey's  Lake — Scranton — Wyoming  Massacre 
—The  Foul  Kift— The  Terminal  Moraine— The  Great  Gla 
cier — Belvidere — Delaware  Water  Gap — The  Wind  Gap — 
Minsi  and  Tammany — The  Minisink — The  Buried  Valleys — 
Nicholas  Depui  —  George  La  Bar  —  Stroudsburg  —  Pocono 
Knob— Bushkill— Walpack  Bend— Pike  County— Dingman's 
Choice— Waterfalls— Milford— Tom  Quick,  the  Indian  Killer 
— Tri-States  Corner — Neversink  River — Port  Jervis — Dela 
ware  and  Hudson  Canal — High  Point — The  Catskill  Flags — 
Hawk's  Nest — Shohola — The  Lacka waxen  and  its  Battle — 
The  Sylvania  Society — Horace  Greeley — Blooming  Grove — 
Pocono  High  Knob— Hawley— The  Wallenpaupack— The  In 
dian  Orchard — Honesdale — Washington  Irving — The  Gravity 
Railroad — Carbondale — Mast  Hope — Narrowsburg — Cochec- 
ton  —  Hancock  —  Delaware  Headwaters — Popacton  River — 
Mohock  River — Deposit — Oquaga  Creek  and  Lake — Lake 
Utsyanthia — Ote-se-on-teo,  Source  of  the  Delaware. 

DELAWARE   BAY. 

THE  famous  navigator  of  the  Dutch  East  India 
Company,  Hendrick  Hudson,  was  the  first  white  man 
who  entered  Delaware  Bay.  He  discovered  it  on 
August  28,  1609,  two  weeks  before  he  entered 
Sandy  Hook  Bay  and  found  the  Hudson  River. 
When  Thomas  West,  Lord  De  La  Warr,  Governor 
of  Virginia,  was  driven  by  stress  of  weather  into  the 
bay  in  1611,  his  name  was  given  the  river.  In 
1614  another  redoubtable  old  skipper  of  the  Dutch 
East  India  Company,  Captain  Carolis  Jacobsen  Mey, 
searching,  like  all  the  rest  of  the  navigators  of  those 
days,  for  the  northwest  passage  to  Asia  and  the  In 
dies,  came  along  there  with  a  small  fleet  of  sixty-ton 


DELAWAKE  BAY.  145 

frigates,  and  tried  to  give  the  river  and  its  capes  his 
names  j  but  only  one  of  these  has  survived,  Cape 
May.  The  southern  portal  at  the  entrance,  which  he 
wished  to  make  Cape  Carolis,  was  named  a  few 
years  afterwards,  by  the  Swedes,  Cape  Henlopen. 
The  Indians  called  the  river  "  Lenape-wihituck," 
or  the  "  river  of  the  Lenapes,"  meaning  "  the  origi 
nal  people,"  or,  as  sometimes  translated,  the  "  manly 
men,"  the  name  of  the  aboriginal  confederation  that 
dwelt  upon  its  banks.  It  had  various  other  names, 
for  when  the  Swedes  came,  the  Indians  about  the  bay 
called  it  "  Pantoxet."  In  an  early  deed  to  William 
Penn  it  is  called  "  Mackeriskickon,"  and  in  another 
document  the  "  Zunikoway."  Some  of  the  tribes  up 
the  river  named  it  "  Kithanue,"  meaning  the  "  main 
stem,"  as  distinguished  from  its  tributaries,  and 
those  on  the  upper  waters  called  it  the  "Lemase- 
pose,"  or  the  "  Fish  River,"  for  the  Upper  Delaware 
was  then  a  famous  salmon  stream,  and  its  early 
Dutch  explorers  thus  came  to  calling  it  the  "  Fish 
River  "  also.  The  Delaware,  from  its  source  in  the 
Catskills  to  the  sea,  is  about  three  hundred  and  sixty 
miles  in  length. 

The  estuary  of  Delaware  Bay  is  about  sixty  miles 
long  and  thirty  miles  broad  in  the  widest  part,  con 
tracting  towards  the  north  to  less  than  five  miles. 
The  capes  at  the  entrance  are  about  fifteen  miles 
apart.  As  a  protection  to  shipping,  the  Government 
began,  on  the  Cape  Henlopen  side,  in  1829,  the 
VOL.  I. —10 


146     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

construction  of  the  famous  Delaware  Breakwater. 
It  consists  of  a  stone  breakwater  about  twenty-six 
hundred  feet  long  facing  the  northeast,  and  an  ice 
breaker  about  fourteen  hundred  feet  long,  at  right 
angles,  facing  the  upper  bay.  These  were  completed 
in  1870,  there  being  an  opening  between  them  of 
about  sixteen  hundred  feet  width,  which  was  after 
wards  filled  up.  The  surface  protected  covers  three 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and  the  whole  work  cost 
about  $3,500,000.  It  was  estimated  in  1871  that 
fully  twenty  thousand  vessels  every  year  availed 
of  the  protection  of  this  breakwater,  the  depth  of 
water  being  twenty -four  feet  behind  it — sufficient  for 
most  of  the  shipping  of  that  day.  But  as  vessels 
have  become  larger  and  of  deeper  draft,  they  have 
not  been  able  to  use  it,  and  the  Government  has  re 
cently  begun  the  construction  of  another  and  larger 
breakwater  for  a  harbor  of  refuge  in  deeper  water 
adjoining  the  regular  ship  channel,  some  distance  to 
the  northward.  Delaware  Bay  divides  the  States  of 
Delaware  and  New  Jersey.  The  first  settlement  in 
Delaware  was  made  by  the  Dutch  near  Lewes  in 
1630,  but  the  Indians  destroyed  the  colony  ;  and  in 
1638  a  colony  of  Swedes  and  Finns  came  out  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Swedish  West  India  Company, 
landed  and  named  Cape  Henlopen,  and  purchased 
from  the  Indians  all  the  land  from  there  up  to  the 
falls  at  Trenton,  finally  locating  their  fort  near  the 
mouth  of  Christiana  Creek,  and  naming  the  country 


DELAWARE  BAY.  147 

Nya  Sveriga,  or  New  Sweden.  The  Swedes  and 
Dutch  quarrelled  about  their  respective  rights  until 
New  York  was  taken  by  the  English  in  1664,  after 
which  England  controlled.  The  first  settlement  in 
New  Jersey  was  made  by  Captains  Mey  and  Jorisz 
in  1623,  who  built  the  Dutch  Fort  Nassau  a  short 
distance  below  Philadelphia ;  but  it  did  not  last. 

Delaware  Bay  is  an  expansive  inland  sea,  subject 
to  fierce  storms,  and  broadening  on  its  eastern  side 
into  Maurice  River  Cove,  noted  for  its  oysters.  A 
deep  ship  channel  conducts  commerce  through  the 
centre  of  the  bay,  marked  by  lighthouses  built  out 
on  mid-bay  shoals,  and,  as  the  shores  approach,  by 
range  lights  on  the  banks,  the  Delaware  Bay  and 
River  being  regarded  as  the  best  marked  and  lighted 
stream  in  the  country.  Up  at  the  head  of  the  bay, 
years  ago,  a  ship  loaded  with  peas  and  beans  sank, 
and  this  in  time  made  at  first  a  shoal,  and  afterwards 
an  island,  since  known  as  the  "  Pea  Patch."  Here 
and  on  the  adjacent  shores  the  Government  has  lately 
erected  formidable  forts,  which  make,  with  their  tor 
pedo  stations  in  the  channel,  a  complete  system  of 
defensive  works  in  the  Delaware,  first  put  into  active 
occupation  during  the  Spanish  War  of  1898,  as  a  pro 
tection  against  a  hostile  fleet  entering  the  river.  Over 
in  the  "  Diamond  State  "  of  Delaware,  near  here,  on 
the  river  shore,  is  the  aged  town  of  Newcastle,  quiet 
and  yet  attractive,  having  in  operation,  and  evidently 
to  the  popular  satisfaction,  the  whipping-post  and 


148     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

stocks,  a  method  of  punishment  which  is  a  terror  to 
all  evil-doers,  and  is  said  to  be  most  successful  in  pre 
venting  crime,  as  thieves  and  marauders  give  New 
castle  a  wide  berth.  This  was  originally  a  Swedish 
settlement,  the  standard  of  the  great  Gustavus 
Adolphus  being  unfurled  there  in  1640,  when  it 
was  called  Sandhuken,  or  Sandy  Hook,  it  being  a 
point  of  land  jutting  out  between  two  little  creeks. 
The  Dutch  soon  captured  it,  changing  the  name  to 
New  Amstel ;  and  about  1670  the  settlement,  then 
containing  nearly  a  hundred  houses,  became  New 
Castle,  under  English  auspices.  The  northern  bound 
ary  of  the  State  of  Delaware,  dividing  it  from  Penn 
sylvania,  is  an  arc  of  a  circle,  made  by  a  radius  of 
twelve  miles  described  around  the  old  Court  House 
at  Newcastle,  which  still  has  in  its  tower  the  bell  pre 
sented  by  Queen  Anne. 


In  coming  over  by  railroad  from  the  Chesapeake 
to  the  Delaware,  the  train,  after  crossing  the  broad 
Susquehanna  and  the  head  of  Elk,  and  rounding  in 
Maryland  the  Northeast  Arm  of  Chesapeake  Bay, 
soon  enters  the  State  of  Delaware  near  the  north 
eastern  corner  of  the  former  State.  This  corner  is 
at  the  termination  of  the  crescent-shaped  northern 
boundary  of  Delaware.  The  northern  boundary  of 
Maryland  here  beginning  and  laid  down  due  west,  to 
separate  it  from  Pennsylvania,  is  the  famous  "  Mason 


MASON  AND  DIXON'S  LINE.  149 

and  Dixon's  Line,"  surveyed  by  Charles  Mason  and 
Jeremiah  Dixon,  two  noted  English  mathematicians 
and  astronomers  in  the  eighteenth  century.  This 
boundary  gained  great  notoriety  because  it  so  long 
marked  the  northern  limit  of  slavery  in  the  United 
States.  For  almost  a  century  there  were  conflicts 
about  their  respective  limits  between  the  rival  pro 
prietaries  of  the  two  States,  producing  sometimes  riot 
and  bloodshed,  until,  in  1763,  these  men  were  brought 
over  from  England,  and  in  December  began  laying 
out  the  line  on  the  parallel  of  latitude  39°  43'  26.3" 
North.  They  were  at  the  work  several  years,  sur 
veying  the  line  two  hundred  and  forty -four  miles  west 
from  the  Delaware  River,  and  within  thirty-six  miles 
of  the  entire  distance  to  be  run,  when  the  French  and 
Indian  troubles  began,  and  they  were  attacked  and 
driven  off,  returning  to  Philadelphia  in  December, 
1767.  At  the  end  of  every  fifth  mile  a  stone  was 
planted,  graven  with  the  arms  of  the  Penn  family  on 
one  side  and  of  Lord  Baltimore  on  the  other.  The 
intermediate  miles  were  marked  by  smaller  stones, 
having  a  P  on  one  side  and  an  M  on  the  other,  all 
the  stones  thus  used  for  monuments  being  sent  out 
from  England.  After  the  Revolution,  in  1782,  the 
remainder  of  the  line  was  laid  down,  and  in  1849 
the  original  surveys  were  revised  and  found  substan 
tially  correct. 

When  the  little  colony  of  Swedes  and  Finns  under 
Peter  Minuet  came  into  Christiana  Creek  in  April, 


150     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

1638,  and  established  their  fort,  they  began  the  first 
permanent  settlement  in  the  valley  of  the  Delaware. 
It  was  built  upon  a  small  rocky  promontory,  and  they 
named  it  Christina,  in  honor  of  the  daughter  of  Gus- 
tavus  Adolphus.  The  Dutch  afterwards  captured  it 
and  called  it  Fort  Altena ;  but  the  town  retained  part 
of  the  original  name  in  Christinaham,  and  the  creek 
also  retained  the  name,  the  English  taking  possession 
in  1664.  The  Swedes,  however,  regardless  of  the 
flag  that  might  wave  over  them,  still  remained  5  and 
their  old  stone  church,  built  in  1698,  still  stands,  down 
near  the  promontory  by  the  waterside,  in  a  yard 
filled  with  time-worn  gravestones.  This  old  Swedes' 
Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  the  oldest  now  on  the 
Delaware,  was  dedicated  on  Trinity  Sunday,  1699, 
and  Rev.  Ericus  Tobias  Biorck  came  out  from  Sweden 
to  take  charge  as  rector.  It  was  sixty  by  thirty  feet 
and  twenty  feet  high,  and  a  little  bell  tower  was 
afterwards  added.  The  ancient  church  was  recently 
thoroughly  restored  to  its  original  condition,  with 
brick  floor,  oaken  benches,  and  stout  rafters  support 
ing  the  roof.  This  interesting  church  building  is  in 
a  factory  district  which  is  now  part  of  Wilmington, 
the  chief  city  of  Delaware,  a  busy  manufacturing 
community  of  sixty-five  thousand  people,  built  on 
the  Christiana  and  Brandywine  Creeks,  which  unite 
about  a  mile  from  the  Delaware.  This  active  city 
was  laid  out  above  the  old  settlement,  in  1731,  by 
William  Shipley,  who  came  from  Leicestershire, 


WILLIAM  PENN.  151 

England.  Ships,  railway  cars  and  gunpowder  are 
the  chief  manufactures  of  Wilmington.  The  Brandy- 
wine  Creek,  in  a  distance  of  four  miles,  terminating 
in  the  city,  falls  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  pro 
viding  a  great  water  power.  Up  this  stream  are  the 
extensive  Dupont  powder-mills,  among  the  largest  in 
the  world,  founded  by  the  French  statesman  and 
economist,  Pierre  Samuel  Du  Pont  De  Nemours, 
who,  after  the  vicissitudes  of  the  French  Revolution, 
migrated  with  his  family  to  the  United  States  in 
1799,  and  was  received  with  distinguished  consider 
ation.  He  afterwards  was  instrumental  in  securing 
the  treaty  of  1803  by  which  France  ceded  Louisi 
ana,  and  was  in  the  service  of  Napoleon,  but  finally 
returned  to  America,  where  his  sons  were  conducting 
the  powder-works,  and  he  died  near  Wilmington  in 
1817.  Admiral  Samuel  Francis  Dupont,  of  the 
American  Navy,  was  his  grandson.  Farther  up  the 
Brandywine  Creek,  at  Chadd's  Ford  and  vicinity, 
was  fought,  in  September,  1777,  the  battle  of  the 
Brandywine,  where  the  English  victory  enabled  them 
to  subsequently  take  possession  of  Philadelphia. 

WILLIAM   PENN. 

Above  Wilmington,  the  Delaware  River  is  a  noble 
tidal  stream  of  about  a  mile  wide,  flowing  between 
gently  sloping  shores,  and  carrying  an  extensive 
commerce.  The  great  river  soon  brings  us  to  the 
famous  Quaker  settlements  of  Pennsylvania.  Wil- 


152     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

liam  Penn,  who  had  become  a  member  of  the  Society 
of  Friends,  was  bequeathed  by  his  father,  Admiral 
Sir  William  Perm,  an  estate  of  £1500  a  year  and 
large  claims  against  the  British  Government.  Fen- 
wick  and  Byllinge,  both  Quakers,  who  had  propri 
etary  rights  in  New  Jersey,  disputed  in  1674,  and 
submitted  their  difference  to  Penn's  arbitration.  He 
decided  in  favor  of  Byllinge,  who  subsequently  be 
came  embarrassed,  and  made  over  his  property  to 
Penn  and  two  creditors  as  trustees.  This  seems  to 
have  turned  Penn's  attention  to  America  as  a  place 
of  settlement  for  the  persecuted  Quakers,  and  he  en 
gaged  with  zeal  in  the  work  of  colonization,  and  in 
1681  obtained  from  the  king,  for  himself  and  heirs, 
in  payment  of  a  debt  of  £16,000  due  his  father,  a 
patent  for  the  territory  now  forming  Pennsylvania, 
on  the  fealty  of  the  annual  payment  of  two  beaver 
skins.  He  wanted  to  call  his  territory  New  Wales, 
as  many  of  the  colonists  came  from  there,  and  after 
wards  suggested  Sylvania  as  specially  applicable  to 
a  land  covered  with  forests  ;  but  the  king  ordered  the 
name  Pennsylvania  inserted  in  the  grant,  in  honor, 
as  he  said,  of  his  late  friend  the  Admiral.  In  Feb 
ruary,  1682,  Penn,  with  eleven  others,  purchased 
West  Jersey,  already  colonized  to  some  extent. 
Tradition  says  that  some  of  these  West  Jersey  colo 
nists  sent  Penn  a  sod  in  which  was  planted  a  green 
twig,  to  show  that  he  owned  the  land  and  all  that 
grew  upon  it.  Next  they  presented  him  with  a  dish 


Byllinge,  who  sul  7  be- 

per  .  his  property  to- 

Quakers,  and  he  en- 


. 

iieable  to 

•  g  ordered  the 

>d  in  the  grant,  in  honor, 

as  he  d  the  Admiral.     In  Feb- 

. 

vtent. 

that  some  of  these  West  Jersey  eolo- 
Penn  a  sod  in  which  was  planted  a 
owned  the  lan<! 

Penn's  Letitia  Street  House,  Removed  to 
Fairmount 


WILLIAM  PENN.  153 

full  of  water,  because  he  was  master  of  the  seas  and 
rivers  j  and  then  they  gave  him  the  keys,  to  show  he 
was  in  command  and  had  all  the  power. 

When  William  Penn  was  granted  his  province,  he 
wrote  that  a  after  many  waitings,  watchings,  solicit- 
ings  and  disputes  in  council,  this  day  my  country  was 
confirmed  to  me  under  the  great  seal  of  England." 
He  had  great  hopes  for  its  future,  for  he  subsequently 
wrote :  "  God  will  bless  and  make  it  the  seed  of  a 
nation ;  I  shall  have  a  tender  care  of  the  govern 
ment  that  it  will  be  well  laid  at  first."  Some  of  the 
Swedes  from  Christina  had  come  up  the  river  in 
1643  and  settled  at  the  mouth  of  Chester  Creek,  at  a 
place  called  Upland.  The  site  was  an  eligible  one, 
and  the  first  parties  of  Quakers,  coming  out  in  three 
ships,  settled  there,  living  in  caves  which  they  dug 
in  the  river  bank,  these  caves  remaining  for  many 
years  after  they  had  built  houses.  Penn  drew  up  a 
liberal  scheme  of  government  and  laws  for  his  colony, 
in  which  he  is  said  to  have  had  the  aid  of  Henry,  the 
brother  of  Algernon  Sidney,  and  of  Sir  William 
Jones.  He  was  not  satisfied  with  Upland,  however, 
as  his  permanent  place  of  settlement,  but  directed 
that  another  site  be  chosen  higher  up  the  Delaware, 
at  some  point  where  "  it  is  most  navigable,  high,  dry 
and  healthy ;  that  is,  where  most  ships  can  best  ride, 
of  deepest  draught  of  water,  if  possible,  to  load  or 
unload,  at  the  bank  or  key-side,  without  boating  or 
lightening  of  it."  This  site  being  selected  between 


154     AMEEICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

the  Delaware  and  Schuylkill  Rivers,  and  the  city  laid 
out,  Penn,  with  about  a  hundred  companions,  mostly 
Welsh  Quakers,  in  September,  1682,  embarked  for 
the  Delaware  on  the  ship  "  Welcome,"  arriving  at 
Upland  after  a  six  weeks'  voyage,  and  then  going  up 
to  his  city  site,  which  he  named  Philadelphia,  the 
"  City  of  Brotherly  Love." 

The  first  explorers  of  the  Delaware  River  found 
located  upon  the  site  of  Philadelphia  the  Indian  set 
tlement  of  Coquanock,  or  "the  grove  of  long  pine 
trees,"  a  sort  of  capital  city  for  the  Lenni  Lenapes. 
Their  great  chief  was  Tamanend,  and  the  primeval 
forest,  largely  composed  of  noble  pine  trees,  then  cov 
ered  all  the  shores  of  the  river.  The  ship  "  Shield," 
from  England,  with  Quaker  colonists  for  Burlington, 
in  West  Jersey,  higher  up  the  river,  sailed  past 
Coquanock  in  1679,  and  a  note  was  made  that  "  part 
of  the  tackling  struck  the  trees,  whereupon  some  on 
board  remarked  that  c  it  was  a  fine  spot  for  a  town.' " 
When  Penn  sent  out  his  advance  agent  and  Deputy 
Governor,  Captain  William  Markham,  of  the  British 
army,  in  his  scarlet  uniform,  to  lay  out  the  plan  of 
his  projected  city,  he  wrote  him  to  "  be  tender  of 
offending  the  Indians,"  and  gave  instructions  that  the 
houses  should  have  open  grounds  around  them,  as  he 
wished  the  new  settlement  to  be  "  a  green  country 
town,"  and  at  the  same  time  to  be  healthy,  and  free 
from  the  danger  of  extensive  conflagrations.  Penn 
bought  the  land  farther  down  the  Delaware  from  the 


WILLIAM  PENN.  155 

Swedes,  who  had  originally  bought  it  from  the  In 
dians,  and  the  site  for  his  city  he  bought  from  the 
Indians  direct.  They  called  him  Mignon,  and  the 
Iroquois,  who  subsequently  made  treaties  with  him, 
called  him  Onas,  both  words  signifying  a  quill  pen, 
as  they  recognized  the  meaning  of  his  name.  Out  on 
the  Delaware,  in  what  is  now  the  Kensington  ship 
building  district,  is  the  "neutral  land  of  Shacka- 
maxon."  This  words  means,  in  the  Indian  dialect, 
the  "place  of  eels."  Here,  for  centuries  before 
Penn's  arrival,  the  Indian  tribes  from  all  the  region 
east  of  the  Alleghenies,  between  the  Great  Lakes, 
the  Hudson  River  and  the  Potomac,  had  been  accus 
tomed  to  kindle  their  council  fires,  smoke  the  pipe 
of  deliberation,  exchange  the  wampum  belts  of  ex 
planation  and  treaty,  and  make  bargains.  Some 
came  by  long  trails  hundreds  of  miles  overland 
through  the  woods,  and  some  in  their  birch  canoes  by 
water  and  portage.  It  was  on  this  "  neutral  ground  " 
by  the  riverside  that  Penn,  soon  after  his  arrival, 
held  his  solemn  council  with  the  Indians,  sealing 
mutual  faith  and  securing  their  lifelong  friendship  for 
his  infant  colony.  This  treaty,  embalmed  in  history 
and  on  canvas,  was  probably  made  in  November, 
1682,  under  the  "Treaty  Elm"  at  Shackamaxon, 
which  was  blown  down  in  1810,  the  place  where  it 
stood  by  the  river  being  now  preserved  as  a  park. 
Its  location  is  marked  by  a  monument  bearing  the 
significant  inscription  :  "  Treaty  Ground  of  William 


156     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

Penn  and  the  Indian  Nation,  1682 — Unbroken 
Faith."  Thus  began  Penn's  City  of  Brotherly  Love, 
based  on  a  compact  which,  in  the  words  of  Voltaire, 
was  "  never  sworn  to  and  never  broken."  It  is  no 
wonder  that  Penn,  after  he  had  seen  his  city  site,  and 
had  made  his  treaty,  was  so  abundantly  pleased  that 
he  wrote : 

"  As  to  outward  things,  we  are  satisfied,  the  land 
good,  the  air  clear  and  sweet,  the  springs  plentiful, 
and  provision  good  and  easy  to  come  at,  an  innumer 
able  quantity  of  wild  fowl  and  fish ;  in  fine,  here  is 
what  an  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob  would  be  well 
contented  with,  and  service  enough  for  God,  for  the 
fields  here  are  white  for  harvest.  O,  how  sweet  is 
the  quiet  of  these  parts,  freed  from  the  anxious  and 
troublesome  solicitations,  harries  and  perplexities  of 
woeful  Europe." 

The  Lenni  Lenapes,  it  is  stated,  told  Penn  and  his 
people  that  they  often  spoke  of  themselves  as  the 
Wapanachki,  or  the  "  men  of  the  morning,"  in  allu 
sion  to  their  supposed  origin  in  the  lands  to  the  east 
ward,  towards  the  rising  sun.  Their  tradition  was 
that  at  the  time  America  was  discovered,  their  nation 
lived  on  the  island  of  New  York.  They  called  it 
Manahatouh,  "the  place  where  timber  is  got  for 
bows  and  arrows."  At  the  lower  end  of  the  island 
was  a  grove  of  hickory  trees  of  peculiar  strength 
and  toughness.  This  timber  was  highly  esteemed 
for  constructing  bows,  arrows,  war-clubs,  etc.  When 


THE  QUAKER  CITY.  157 

they  migrated  westward  they  divided  into  two  bands. 
One,  going  to  the  upper  Delaware,  among  the  moun 
tains,  was  termed  Minsi,  or  "  the  great  stone ;"  and 
the  other  band,  seeking  the  bay  and  lower  river, 
was  called  Wenawmien,  or  "  down  the  river."  These 
Indians  originated  the  name  of  the  Allegheny  Moun 
tains,  which  they  called  the  Allickewany,  the  word 
meaning  "  He  leaves  us  and  may  never  return  " — it 
is  supposed  in  reference  to  departing  hunters  or  war 
riors  who  went  into  the  mountain  passes. 

THE    QUAKER   CITY. 

The  great  city  thus  founded  by  William  Penn  is 
built  chiefly  upon  a  broad  plain  between  the  Dela 
ware  and  Schuylkill  Kivers,  about  one  hundred  miles 
from  the  sea,  and  upon  the  undulating  surface  to  the 
north  and  west.  The  shape  of  the  city  is  much  like 
an  hour-glass,  between  the  rivers,  although  it  spreads 
far  west  of  the  Schuylkill.  The  Delaware  River,  in 
front  of  the  built-up  portion,  sweeps  around  a  grand 
curve  from  northeast  to  south,  and  then,  reversing 
the  movement,  flows  around  the  Horseshoe  Bend 
below  the  city,  from  south  to  west,  to  meet  the 
Schuylkill.  The  railway  and  commercial  facilities, 
the  proximity  to  the  coal-fields,  and  the  ample  room 
to  spread  in  all  directions,  added  to  the  cheapness  of 
living,  have  made  Philadelphia  the  greatest  manufac 
turing  city  in  the  world,  and  attracted  to  it  1,300,000 
inhabitants.  The  alluvial  character  of  the  shores  of 


158     AMERICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

the  two  rivers  surrounds  the  city  with  a  region  of 
the  richest  market  gardens,  and  the  adjoining  coun 
ties  are  a  wealthy  agricultural  and  dairy  section. 
Clay,  underlying  a  large  part  of  the  surface,  has  fur 
nished  the  bricks  to  build  much  of  the  town.  Most 
of  the  people  own  their  homes ;  there  are  over  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dwellings  and  a  thousand 
miles  of  paved  streets,  and  new  houses  are  put  up  by 
the  thousands  every  year  as  additional  territory  is 
absorbed.  When  Penn  laid  out  his  town-plan,  he 
made  two  broad  highways  pointing  towards  the  car 
dinal  points  of  the  compass  and  crossing  at  right 
angles  in  the  centre,  where  he  located  a  public  square 
of  ten  acres.  The  east  and  west  street,  one  hundred 
feet  wide,  he  placed  at  the  narrowest  part  of  the  hour 
glass,  where  the  rivers  approached  within  two  miles 
of  each  other.  This  he  called  the  High  Street,  but 
the  public  persisted  in  calling  it  Market  Street.  The 
north  and  south  street,  laid  out  in  the  centre  of  the 
plat,  at  its  southern  end  reached  the  Delaware  near 
the  confluence  with  the  Schuylkill.  This  street  is 
one  hundred  and  thirteen  feet  wide,  Broad  Street,  a 
magnificent  thoroughfare  stretching  for  miles  and 
bordered  with  handsome  buildings.  Upon  the  Centre 
Square  was  built  a  Quaker  meeting-house,  the 
Friends,  while  yet  occupying  the  caves  on  the  bluff 
banks  of  the  Delaware  that  were  their  earliest  dwell 
ings,  showing  anxiety  to  maintain  their  forms  of  re 
ligious  worship.  This  meeting-house  has  since  mul- 


THE  QUAKEE  CITY.  159 

tiplied  into  scores  in  the  city  and  adjacent  districts  ; 
for  the  sect,  while  not  increasing  in  numbers,  holds  its 
own  in  wealth  and  importance,  and  has  great  influ 
ence  in  modern  Philadelphia.  Afterwards  the  Centre 
Square  was  used  for  the  city  water- works,  and  finally 
it  was  made  the  site  of  the  City  Hall. 

The  bronze  statue  of  the  founder,  surmounting  the 
City  Hall  tower  at  five  hundred  and  fifty  feet  eleva 
tion,  clad  in  broad-brimmed  hat  and  Quaker  garb, 
carrying  the  city  charter,  and  gazing  intently  north 
eastward  towards  the  "neutral  land  of  Shacka- 
maxon,"  is  the  prominent  landmark  for  many  miles 
around  Philadelphia.  A  blaze  of  electric  light  illu 
minates  it  at  night.  This  City  Hall,  the  largest  edi 
fice  in  America,  and  almost  as  large  as  St.  Peter's 
Church  in  Rome,  has  fourteen  acres  of  floor  space  and 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  rooms,  and  cost  $27,000,000. 
It  is  a  quadrangle,  built  around  a  central  court  about 
two  hundred  feet  square,  and  measures  four  hundred 
and  eighty-six  by  four  hundred  and  seventy  feet. 
The  lower  portion  is  of  granite,  and  the  upper  white 
marble  surmounted  by  Louvre  domes  and  Mansard 
roofs.  This  great  building  is  the  official  centre  of 
Philadelphia,  but  the  centre  of  population  is  now  far 
to  the  northwest,  the  city  having  spread  in  that  direc 
tion.  The  City  Hall,  excepting  its  tower,  is  also  being 
dwarfed  by  the  many  enormous  and  tall  store  and 
office  buildings  which  have  recently  been  constructed 
on  Broad  and  other  streets  near  it.  Closely  adjacent 


160     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

are  the  two  vast  stations  of  the  railways  leading  into 
Philadelphia,  the  Broad  Street  Station  of  the  Penn 
sylvania  system,  and  the  Reading  Terminal  Station, 
which  serves  the  Reading,  Baltimore  and  Ohio  and 
Lehigh  Valley  systems.  Also  adjoining,  to  the  north 
ward,  is  the  Masonic  Temple,  the  finest  Masonic  edi 
fice  in  existence,  a  pure  Norman  structure  of  granite 
two  hundred  and  fifty  by  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet, 
with  a  tower  two  hundred  and  thirty  feet  high,  and 
a  magnificent  carved  and  decorated  granite  Norman 
porch,  which  is  much  admired. 

The  great  founder  not  only  started  his  City  of 
Brotherly  Love  upon  principles  of  the  strictest  recti 
tude,  but  he  was  thoroughly  rectangular  in  his  ideas. 
He  laid  out  all  the  streets  on  his  plan  parallel  to  the 
two  prominent  ones,  so  that  they  crossed  at  right 
angles,  and  his  map  was  like  a  chess-board.  In  the 
newer  sections  this  plan  has  been  generally  followed, 
although  a  few  country  roads  in  the  outer  districts, 
laid  upon  diagonal  lines,  have  been  converted  into 
streets  in  the  city's  growth.  Penn's  original  city  also 
included  four  other  squares  near  the  outer  corners  of 
his  plan,  each  of  about  seven  acres,  and  three  of  them 
were  long  used  as  cemeteries.  These  are  now  at 
tractive  breathing-places  for  the  crowded  city,  being 
named  after  Washington  and  Franklin,  Logan  and 
Rittenhouse.  The  east  and  west  streets  Perm  named 
after  trees  and  plants,  while  the  north  and  south 
streets  were  numbered.  The  chief  street  of  the  city 


INDEPENDENCE  HALL.  161 

is  Chestnut  Street,  a  narrow  highway  of  fifty  feet 
width,  parallel  to  and  south  of  Market  Street.  Its 
western  end,  like  Walnut  Street,  the  next  one  south, 
is  a  fashionable  residential  section,  both  being  pro 
longed  far  west  of  the  Schuylkill  River.  In  the 
neighborhood  of  Broad  Street,  and  for  several  blocks 
eastward,  Chestnut  Street  has  the  chief  stores.  Its 
eastern  blocks  are  filled  largely  with  financial  in 
stitutions  and  great  business  edifices,  some  of  them 
elaborate  structures. 

INDEPENDENCE   HALL. 

Upon  the  south  side  of  Chestnut  Street,  occupying 
the  block  between  Fifth  and  Sixth  Streets,  is  Inde 
pendence  Square,  an  open  space  of  about  four  acres, 
tastefully  laid  out  in  flowers  and  lawns,  with  spacious 
and  well-shaded  walks.  Upon  the  northern  side  of 
the  square,  and  fronting  Chestnut  Street,  is  the  most 
hallowed  building  of  American  patriotic  memories, 
Independence  Hall,  a  modest  brick  structure,  yet  the 
most  interesting  object  Philadelphia  contains.  It  was 
in  this  Hall,  known  familiarly  as  the  "  State-house," 
that  the  Continental  Congress  governing  the  thirteen 
revolted  colonies  met  during  the  American  Revo 
lution,  excepting  when  driven  out  upon  the  British 
capture,  after  the  battle  of  the  Brandywine.  The 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  adopted  here  July 
4,  1776.  The  old  brick  building,  two  stories  high, 
plainly  built,  and  lighted  by  large  windows,  was  begun 
VOL.  I.— 11 


162     AMEKICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

in  1732,  taking  three  years  to  construct,  having  cost 
what  was  a  large  sum  in  those  days,  £5600,  the  pop 
ulation  then  being  about  ten  thousand.  It  was  the 
Government  House  of  Penn's  Province  of  Pennsyl 
vania.  There  has  recently  been  a  complete  restora 
tion,  by  which  it  has  been  put  back  into  the  actual 
condition  at  the  time  Independence  was  declared.  In 
the  central  corridor  stands  the  "  Independence  bell," 
the  most  sacred  relic  in  the  city.  This  Liberty  bell, 
originally  cast  in  England,  hung  in  the  steeple,  and 
rang  out  in  joyous  peals  the  news  of  the  signing  of 
the  Declaration.  Running  around  its  top  is  the  sig 
nificant  inscription  :  "  Proclaim  Liberty  throughout 
the  Land  unto  all  the  Inhabitants  Thereof."  This 
bell  was  cracked  while  being  rung  on  one  of  the  an 
niversaries  about  sixty  years  ago.  In  the  upper 
story  of  the  Hall,  Washington  delivered  his  "  Fare 
well  Address  "  in  closing  his  term  of  office  as  Presi 
dent.  The  eastern  room  of  the  lower  story  is  where 
the  Revolutionary  Congress  met,  and  it  is  preserved 
as  then,  the  old  tables,  chairs  and  other  furniture 
having  been  gathered  together,  and  portraits  of  the 
Signers  of  the  Declaration  hang  on  the  walls.  The 
old  floor,  being  worn  out,  was  replaced  with  tiles,  but 
otherwise  the  room,  which  is  about  forty  feet  square, 
is  as  nearly  as  possible  in  its  original  condition. 
Here  are  kept  the  famous  "  Rattlesnake  flags,"  with 
the  motto  "Don't  Tread  on  Me,"  that  were  the 
earliest  flags  of  America,  preceding  the  Stars  and 


INDEPENDENCE  HALL.  163 

Stripes.  Of  the  deliberations  of  the  Congress  which 
met  in  this  building,  William  Pitt  wrote :  "  I  must 
declare  that  in  all  my  reading  and  observation,  for 
solidity  of  reasoning,  force  of  sagacity,  and  wisdom 
of  conclusion,  under  such  a  complication  of  difficult 
circumstances,  no  body  of  men  could  stand  before  the 
National  Congress  of  Philadelphia."  In  this  build 
ing  is  Penn's  Charter  of  Philadelphia,  granted  in 
1701,  and  West's  noted  painting  of  "  Penn's  Treaty 
with  the  Indians."  There  are  also  portraits  of  all  the 
British  kings  and  queens  from  Penn's  time,  including 
a  full-length  portrait  of  King  George  III.,  represent 
ing  him,  when  a  young  man,  in  his  coronation  robes, 
and  painted  by  Allan  Ramsay. 

Other  historic  places  are  nearby.  To  the  westward 
is  Congress  Hall,  where  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  held  its  sessions  prior  to  removal  to  Washing 
ton  City.  To  the  eastward  is  the  old  City  Hall,  where 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court  sat  in  the  eigh 
teenth  century.  Adjoining  is  the  Hall  of  the  Amer 
ican  Philosophical  Society,  founded  by  Benjamin 
Franklin,  and  an  outgrowth  of  his  Junto  Club  of 
1743.  It  has  a  fine  library  and  many  interesting 
relics.  Franklin,  who  was  the  leading  Philadelphian 
of  the  Revolutionary  period,  came  to  the  city  from 
Boston  when  eighteen  years  old,  and  died  in  1790. 
His  grave  is  not  far  away,  in  the  old  Quaker  burying- 
ground  on  North  Fifth  Street.  A  fine  bronze  statue 
of  Franklin  adorns  the  plaza  in  front  of  the  Post- 


164     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

office  building  on  Chestnut  Street.  Farther  down 
Chestnut  Street  is  the  Hall  of  the  Carpenters'  Com 
pany,  standing  back  from  the  street,  where  the  first 
Colonial  Congress  met  in  1774,  paving  the  way  for 
the  Revolution.  An  inscription  appropriately  reads 
that  "  Within  these  walls,  Henry,  Hancock  and 
Adams  inspired  the  delegates  of  the  colonies  with 
nerve  and  sinew  for  the  toils  of  war."  On  Arch 
Street,  east  from  Franklin's  grave,  is  the  house  where 
Betsy  Ross  made  the  first  American  flag,  with  thir 
teen  stars  and  thirteen  stripes,  from  a  design  prepared 
by  a  Committee  of  Congress  and  General  Washing 
ton  in  1777.  In  this  committee  were  Robert  Morris 
and  Colonel  George  Ross,  the  latter  being  the  young 
woman's  uncle.  It  appears  that  she  was  expert  at 
needlework  and  an  adept  in  making  the  handsome 
ruffled  bosoms  and  cuffs  worn  in  the  shirts  of  those 
days,  and  had  made  these  for  General  Washington 
himself.  She  had  also  made  flags,  and  there  is  a 
record  of  an  order  on  the  Treasury  in  May,  1777, 
"to  pay  Betsy  Ross  fourteen  pounds,  twelve  shil 
lings  twopence  for  flags  for  the  fleet  in  the  Delaware 
River."  She  made  the  sample-flag,  her  uncle  pro 
viding  the  means  to  procure  the  materials,  and  her 
design  was  adopted  by  the  Congress  on  June  14, 
1777,  the  anniversary  being  annually  commemorated 
as  "  Flag  Day."  Originally  there  was  a  six-pointed 
star  suggested  by  the  committee,  but  she  proposed 
the  five-pointed  star  as  more  artistic,  and  they  ac- 


GIRARD  COLLEGE.  165 

cepted  it.  The  form  of  flag  then  adopted  continues 
to  be  the  American  standard.  She  afterwards  mar 
ried  John  Claypole,  whom  she  survived  many  years, 
and  she  died  in  January,  1836,  aged  84,  being 
buried  in  Mount  Moriah  Cemetery,  on  the  south 
western  border  of  the  city. 

GIRARD    COLLEGE. 

The  name  of  Girard  is  familiar  in  Philadelphia, 
being  repeated  in  streets,  buildings,  and  financial  and 
charitable  institutions.  On  Third  Street,  south  from 
Chestnut  Street,  is  the  fine  marble  building  of  the 
Girard  Bank,  which  was  copied  after  the  Dublin  Ex 
change.  This,  originally  built  for  the  first  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  was  Stephen  Girard's  bank  until 
his  death.  One  of  the  greatest  streets  in  the  north 
ern  part  of  the  city  is  Girard  Avenue,  over  one  hun 
dred  feet  wide,  stretching  almost  from  the  Delaware 
River  westward  far  beyond  the  Schuylkill  River, 
which  it  crosses  upon  a  splendid  iron  bridge.  In  its 
course  through  the  northwestern  section,  this  fine 
street  diverges  around  the  enclosure  of  Girard  Col 
lege,  occupying  grounds  covering  about  forty-two 
acres.  Stephen  Girard,  before  the  advent  of  Astor 
in  New  York,  amassed  the  greatest  American  fortune. 
He  was  born  in  Bordeaux  in  1750,  and,  being  a 
sailor's  son,  began  life  as  a  cabin  boy.  He  first  ap 
peared  in  Philadelphia  during  the  Revolution  as  a 
small  trader,  and  after  some  years  was  reported,  in 


166     AMEEICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

1790,  to  have  an  estate  valued  at  $30,000.  Subse 
quently,  through  trading  with  the  West  Indies,  and 
availing  of  the  advantages  a  neutral  had  in  the 
warlike  period  that  followed,  he  rapidly  amassed 
wealth,  so  that  by  1812,  when  he  opened  his  bank, 
he  had  a  capital  of  $1,200,000  j  and  so  great  was  the 
public  confidence  in  his  integrity  that  depositors 
flocked  to  his  institution.  He  increased  its  capital 
to  $4,000,000  ;  and  when  the  war  with  England  began 
in  that  year  he  was  able  to  take,  without  help,  a 
United  States  loan  of  $5,000,000.  He  was  a  re 
markable  man,  frugal  and  even  parsimonious,  but 
profuse  in  his  public  charities,  though  strict  in  ex 
acting  every  penny  due  himself.  He  contributed  lib 
erally  to  the  adornment  of  the  city  and  created  many 
fine  buildings.  He  despised  the  few  relatives  he  had, 
and  when  he  died  in  1831  his  estate,  then  the  largest 
known  in  the  country,  and  estimated  at  $9,000,000, 
was  almost  entirely  bequeathed  for  charity. 

Stephen  Girard  left  donations  to  schools,  hospitals, 
Masonic  poor  funds,  for  fuel  for  the  poor,  and  other 
charitable  purposes ;  but  the  major  part  of  his  for 
tune  went  in  trust  to  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  partly 
to  improve  its  streets  and  the  Delaware  River  front, 
but  the  greater  portion  to  endow  Girard  College. 
This  was  in  the  form  of  a  bequest  of  $2,000,000  in 
money  and  a  large  amount  of  lands  and  buildings, 
together  with  the  ground  whereon  the  College  has 
been  built.  He  gave  the  most  minute  directions 


GIEAED  COLLEGE.  167 

about  its  construction,  the  institution  to  be  for  the 
support  and  instruction  of  poor  white  male  orphans, 
who  are  admitted  between  the  ages  of  six  and  ten 
years,  and  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  eighteen 
years  are  to  be  bound  out  as  apprentices  to  various 
occupations.  A  clause  in  the  will  provides  that  no 
ecclesiastic,  missionary  or  minister  of  any  sect  what 
ever  is  to  hold  any  connection  with  the  College,  or 
even  be  admitted  to  the  premises  as  a  visitor  j  but 
the  officers  are  required  to  instruct  the  pupils  in  the 
purest  principles  of  morality,  leaving  them  to  adopt 
their  own  religious  beliefs.  The  College  building  is 
of  white  marble,  and  the  finest  specimen  of  pure 
Grecian  architecture  in  the  United  States.  It  is  a 
Corinthian  temple,  surrounded  by  a  portico  of  thirty- 
four  columns,  each  fifty-five  feet  high  and  six  feet  in 
diameter.  The  building  is  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
nine  by  one  hundred  and  eleven  feet,  and  ninety- 
seven  feet  high,  the  roof  being  of  heavy  slabs  of 
marble,  from  which,  as  the  College  stands  on  high 
ground,  there  is  a  grand  view  over  the  city.  Within 
the  vestibule  are  a  statue  of  Girard  and  his  sarcoph 
agus.  The  architect,  Thomas  U.  Walter,  achieved 
such  fame  from  this  building  that  he  was  afterwards 
employed  to  extend  the  Capitol  at  Washington. 
There  are  many  other  buildings  in  the  College  enclo 
sure,  some  being  little  less  pretentious  than  the  Col 
lege  itself.  This  comprehensive  charity  has  been  in 
successful  operation  over  a  half-century,  and  it  sup- 


168     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

ports  and  educates  some  sixteen  hundred  boys,  the 
endowment,  by  careful  management,  now  exceeding 
$16,000,000. 

Philadelphia  is  great  in  other  charities,  and  nota 
bly  in  hospitals.  Opposite  Girard  College  are  the 
magnificent  buildings  of  the  German  Hospital  and 
the  Mary  J.  Drexel  Home  for  the  education  of 
nurses,  established  by  the  munificence  of  John  D. 
Lankenau,  the  widowed  husband  of  the  lady  whose 
name  it  bears.  The  Drexel  Institute,  founded  by 
Anthony  J.  Drexel,  is  a  fine  building  in  West  Phila 
delphia,  with  $2,000,000  endowment,  established  for 
"the  extension  and  improvement  of  industrial  edu 
cation  as  a  means  of  opening  better  and  wider  ave 
nues  of  employment  to  young  men  and  women,"  and 
it  provides  for  about  two  thousand  students.  The 
Presbyterian,  Episcopal,  Jewish,  Methodist  and  Ro 
man  Catholic  hospitals,  all  under  religious  care,  are 
noted.  Philadelphia  is  also  the  great  medical  school 
of  the  country,  and  the  University,  Jefferson,  Hah- 
nemann  and  Women's  Colleges,  each  with  a  hospital 
attached,  have  world-wide  fame.  The  oldest  hospital, 
the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  occupying  an  entire  block 
between  Spruce  and  Pine  and  Eighth  and  Ninth 
Streets,  was  founded  in  1752,  and  is  supported  almost 
entirely  by  voluntary  contributions.  In  1841  it 
established  in  West  Philadelphia  a  separate  Depart 
ment  for  the  Insane.  The  Medico-Chirurgical  Hos 
pital  is  a  modern  foundation  which  has  grown  to 


NOTABLE  PHILADELPHIA  BUILDINGS.        169 

large  proportions.  There  are  many  libraries — not 
only  free  libraries,  with  branches  in  various  parts  of 
the  city,  for  popular  use,  supported  by  the  public 
funds,  but  also  the  Philadelphia  Library,  founded  by 
Franklin  and  his  friends  of  the  Junto  Literary  Club 
in  1731,  and  its  Ridgway  Branch,  established,  with 
$1,500,000  endowment,  by  Dr.  James  Rush — a  spa 
cious  granite  building  on  Broad  Street,  which  cost 
$350,000.  One  of  the  restrictions  of  his  gift,  how 
ever,  excludes  newspapers,  he  describing  them  as 
"  vehicles  of  disjointed  thinking."  The  Pennsylva 
nia  Historical  Society  also  has  a  fine  library  pertain 
ing  to  early  Colonial  history,  and  many  valuable  relics 
and  manuscripts,  including  the  first  Bible  printed 
in  America,  and  the  original  manuscripts  of  Home, 
Sweet  Home,  and  the  Star-Spangled  Banner. 

NOTABLE   PHILADELPHIA   BUILDINGS. 

There  are  many  notable  structures  in  Philadelphia. 
The  United  States  Mint,  opposite  the  City  Hall,  and 
fronting  on  Chestnut  Street,  has  executed  nearly  all 
the  coinage  of  the  country  since  its  establishment  in 
1792,  the  present  building  having  been  completed  in 
1833.  It  contains  a  most  interesting  collection  of 
coins,  including  the  "widow's  mite."  A  fine  new 
mint  is  now  being  erected  on  a  much  larger  scale  in 
the  northwestern  section  of  the  city.  The  Bourse, 
on  Fifth  Street  near  Chestnut,  erected  in  1895  at  a 
cost  of  $1,500,000,  is  the  business  centre,  its  lower 


170     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

hall  being  the  most  spacious  apartment  in  the  city, 
and  the  edifice  is  constructed  in  the  style  of  Francis 
I.  The  white  marble  Custom  House,  with  fine  Doric 
portico,  was  originally  erected  in  1819,  at  a  cost  of 
$500,000,  for  the  second  United  States  Bank,  this 
noted  bank,  which  ultimately  suspended,  having  been 
for  many  years  a  political  bone  of  contention.  On  the 
opposite  side  of  the  street,  covering  a  block,  is  a  row 
of  a  half-dozen  wealthy  financial  institutions,  making 
one  of  the  finest  series  in  existence,  granite  and 
marble  being  varied  in  several  orders  of  architec 
ture.  The  Post-office  building,  also  on  Chestnut 
Street,  a  grand  granite  structure  in  Renaissance, 
with  a  fa$ade  extending  four  hundred  feet,  cost  over 
$5,000,000.  The  plain  and  solid  Franklin  Institute, 
designed  to  promote  the  mechanical  and  useful  arts, 
is  not  far  away. 

Down  nearer  the  river  is  the  venerable  Christ 
Church,  with  its  tall  spire,  built  in  1727,  the  most 
revered  Episcopal  church  in  the  city,  and  the  one 
at  which  General  Washington  and  all  the  Government 
officials  in  the  Revolutionary  days  worshipped.  Wil 
liam  White,  a  native  of  the  city,  was  the  rector  of 
this  church  and  chaplain  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
and  in  1786  was  elected  the  Episcopal  Bishop  of 
Pennsylvania,  being  ordained  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  at  Lambeth  in  February,  1787.  He  pre 
sided  over  the  Convention,  held  in  this  church  in 
1789,  which  organized  the  Protestant  Episcopal 


NOTABLE  PHILADELPHIA  BUILDINGS.       171 

Church  in  the  United  States.  Christ  Church  still 
possesses  the  earliest  chime  of  bells  sent  from  Eng 
land  to  America,  and  the  spire,  rising  nearly  two  hun 
dred  feet,  is  a  prominent  object  seen  from  the  river. 
Bishop  White  died  in  1836,  aged  88.  He  was  also, 
in  his  early  life,  the  rector  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  an 
other  revered  Episcopal  church  at  Third  and  Pine 
Streets.  In  its  yard  is  the  grave  of  Commodore 
Stephen  Decatur,  the  famous  American  naval  officer, 
who,  after  all  his  achievements  and  victories,  was 
killed  in  a  duel  with  Commodore  Barren  in  1820, 
his  antagonist  also  dying.  The  most  ancient  church 
in  Philadelphia  is  Gloria  Dei,  the  "Old  Swedes'" 
Church,  a  quaint  little  structure  near  the  Delaware 
River  bank  in  the  southern  part  of  the  city,  built  in 
1700.  The  early  Swedish  settlers,  coming  up  from 
Fort  Christina,  erected  a  log  chapel  on  this  site  in 
1677,  at  which  Jacob  Fabritius  delivered  the  first 
sermon.  After  he  died,  the  King  of  Sweden  in 
1697  sent  over  Rev.  Andrew  Rudman,  under  whose 
guidance  the  present  structure  was  built  to  replace 
the  log  chapel ;  and  it  was  dedicated,  the  first  Sunday 
after  Trinity,  1700,  by  Rev.  Eric  Biorck,  who  had 
come  over  with  Rudman.  Many  are  the  tales  told 
of  the  escapades  of  the  early  Swedes  in  the  days  of 
the  log  chapel.  The  Indians  on  one  occasion  under 
mined  it  to  get  at  the  congregation,  as  they  were 
afraid  of  the  muskets  which  the  men  shot  out  of  the 
loopholes.  The  women,  however,  scenting  danger, 


172     AMEEICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

brought  into  church  a  large  supply  of  soft-soap, 
which  they  heated  piping  hot  in  a  cauldron.  When 
the  redskins  made  their  foray  and  popped  their  heads 
up  through  the  floor,  they  were  treated  to  a  copious 
bath  of  hot  soap,  and  fled  in  dismay.  This  is  the 
"  Old  Swedes' "  Church  at  Wicaco  of  which  Long 
fellow  sings  in  Evangeline.  The  poet,  in  unfolding 
his  story,  brings  both  Evangeline  and  Gabriel  from 
Acadia  to  Philadelphia  in  the  enforced  exodus  of 
1755,  and  thus  graphically  describes  the  Quaker 
City: 

"In  that  delightful  land  which  is  washed  by  the  Delaware's 

waters, 

Guarding  in  sylvan  shades  the  name  of  Penn,  the  Apostle, 
Stands  on  the  banks  of  its  beautiful  stream  the  city  he  founded. 
There  all  the  air  is  balm,  and  the  peach  is  the  emblem  of 

beauty, 
And  the  streets  still  re-echo  the  names  of  the  trees  of  the 

forest, 
As  if  they  fain  would  appease  the  Dryads  whose  haunts  they 

molested. 

There,  from  the  troubled  sea,  had  Evangeline  landed  an  exile, 
Finding  among  the  children  of  Penn  a  home  and  a  country. 
Something,  at  least,  there  was,  in  the  friendly  streets  of  the 

city, 
Something  that  spake  to  her  heart  and  made  her  no  longer  a 

stranger ; 
And  her  ear  was  pleased  with  the  Thee  and  Thou  of  the 

Quakers, 

For  it  recalled  the  past,  the  old  Acadian  country, 
Where  all  men  were  equal,  and  all  were  brothers  and  sisters." 

In  Philadelphia  it  is  said  Evangeline  lived  many 


NOTABLE  PHILADELPHIA  BUILDINGS.        173 

years  as  a  Sister  of  Mercy,  and  it  was  thus  that  she 
visited  the  ancient  almshouse  to  minister  to  the  sick 
and  dying  on  a  Sabbath  morning : 

"As  she  mounted  the  stairs  to  the  corridors,  cooled  by  the  east 

wind, 
Distant  and  soft  on  her  ear  fell  the  chimes  from  the  belfry  of 

Christ  Church, 
While  intermingled  with   these,    across    the  meadows   were 

wafted 
Sounds  of  psalms  that  were  sung  by  the  Swedes  in  their  church 

at  Wicaco." 

There  she  found  the  dying  Gabriel,  and  both,  ac 
cording  to  the  tradition,  are  buried  in  the  yard  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  at  Sixth 
and  Spruce  Streets : 

"  Still  stands  the  forest  primeval ;  but  far  away  from  its  shadow, 
Side  by  side,  in  their  nameless  graves,  the  lovers  are  sleeping. 
Under  the  humble  walls  of  the  little  Catholic  churchyard, 
In  the  heart  of  the  city,  they  lie  unknown  and  unnoticed. 
Daily  the  tides  of  life  go  ebbing  and  flowing  beside  them, 
Thousands  of  throbbing  hearts,  where  theirs  are  at  rest  and 

forever ; 

Thousands  of  aching  brains,  where  theirs  no  longer  are  busy ; 
Thousands  of  toiling  hands,   where  theirs  have  ceased  from 

their  labors  ; 
Thousands  of  weary  feet,  where  theirs  have  completed  their 

journey." 

In  the  ancient  graveyard  of  "Old  Swedes"  is 
buried  Alexander  Wilson,  the  American  ornitholo 
gist,  who  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  but  lived  most  of 


174     AMEEICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCKIPTIVE. 

his  life  in  Philadelphia,  dying  in  1813.  The  largest 
church  in  the  city  is  the  Koman  Catholic  Cathedral 
of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  fronting  on  Logan  Square, 
an  imposing  Roman  Corinthian  structure  of  red  sand 
stone,  two  hundred  and  sixteen  by  one  hundred  and 
thirty-six  feet,  and  crowned  by  a  dome  rising  two 
hundred  and  ten  feet.  The  chief  institution  of  learn 
ing  is  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  the  most  ex 
tensive  and  comprehensive  College  in  the  Middle 
States,  dating  from  1740,  and  munificently  endowed, 
which  occupies,  with  its  many  buildings,  a  large  sur 
face  in  West  Philadelphia,  and  has  three  thousand 
students.  This  great  institution  originated  from  a 
building  planned  in  1740  for  a  place  in  which  George 
Whitefield  could  preach,  which  was  also  used  for  a 
charity  school.  This  building  was  conveyed  to  trus 
tees  in  1749  to  maintain  the  school,  and  they  were 
in  turn  chartered  as  a  college  in  1753  "  to  maintain 
an  academy,  as  well  for  the  instruction  of  poor  chil 
dren  on  charity  as  others  whose  circumstances  have 
enabled  them  to  pay  for  their  learning."  This  charit 
able  feature  is  still  maintained  in  the  University  by 
free  scholarships. 

Philadelphia  is  eminently  a  manufacturing  city, 
and  its  two  greatest  establishments  are  the  Cramp 
Shipbuilding  yards  in  the  Kensington  district  and  the 
Baldwin  Locomotive  Works  on  North  Broad  Street, 
each  the  largest  establishment  of  its  kind  in  America. 
The  city  has  spread  over  a  greater  territory  than 


NOTABLE  PHILADELPHIA  BUILDINGS.       175 

any  other  in  the  United  States,  and  sixteen  bridges 
span  the  Schuylkill,  with  others  in  contemplation,  its 
expansion  beyond  that  river  has  been  so  extensive. 
The  enormous  growth  of  the  town  has  mainly  come 
from  the  adoption  of  the  general  principle  that  every 
family  should  live  in  its  own  house,  supplemented  by 
liberal  extensions  of  electrical  street  railways  in  all 
directions.  Hence,  Philadelphia  is  popularly  known 
as  the  "  City  of  Homes."  As  the  city  expanded 
over  the  level  land,  four-,  six-,  eight-  and  ten-room 
dwellings  have  been  built  by  the  mile,  and  set  up  in 
row  after  row.  Two-story  and  three-story  houses  of 
red  brick,  with  marble  steps  and  facings,  make  up 
the  greater  part  of  the  town,  and  each  house  is  gen 
erally  its  owner's  castle,  the  owner  in  most  cases 
being  a  successful  toiler,  who  has  saved  his  house 
gradually  out  of  his  hard  earnings,  almost  literally 
brick  by  brick.  There  is  almost  unlimited  space 
in  the  suburbs  yet  capable  of  similar  absorption, 
and  the  process  which  has  given  Philadelphia  this 
extensive  surface  goes  on  indefinitely.  The  popu 
lation  is  also  regarded  as  more  representative  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  races  than  in  most  American 
cities,  though  the  Teuton  numerously  abounds  and 
speedily  assimilates.  The  greatest  extent  of  Phila 
delphia  is  upon  a  line  from  southwest  to  northeast, 
which  will  stretch  nearly  twenty  miles  in  a  con 
tinuous  succession  of  paved  and  lighted  streets  and 
buildings. 


176     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 
FAIRMOUNT   PARK   AND    SUBURBS. 

Philadelphia,  excepting  to  the  southward,  is  sur 
rounded  by  a  broad  belt  of  attractive  suburban  resi 
dences,  the  semi-rural  region  for  miles  being  filled 
with  ornamental  villas  and  the  tree-embowered  and 
comfortable  homes  of  the  well-to-do  and  middle 
classes.  Down  the  Schuylkill  is  "Bartram's  Gar 
den,"  now  a  public  park,  where  John  Bartram  estab 
lished  the  first  botanic  garden  in  America,  and  where 
his  descendants  in  1899  celebrated  the  two  hun 
dredth  anniversary  of  his  birth  on  June  2,  1699. 
His  grandfather  was  one  of  the  companions  of  Wil 
liam  Penn,  and  John  Bartram,  who  was  a  farmer, 
mastered  the  rudiments  of  the  learned  languages, 
became  passionately  devoted  to  botany,  and  was  pro 
nounced  by  Linnaeus  the  greatest  natural  botanist  in 
the  world.  Bartram  bought  his  little  place  of  about 
seven  acres  in  1728,  and  built  himself  a  stone  house, 
which  still  exists,  bearing  the  inscription,  cut  deep  in 
a  stone,  "  John  and  Ann  Bartram,  1731."  He  wrote 
to  a  friend  describing  how  he  became  a  botanist : 
u  One  day  I  was  very  busy  in  holding  my  plough 
(for  thou  seest  I  am  but  a  ploughman),  and  being 
weary,  I  ran  under  a  tree  to  repose  myself.  I  cast 
my  eyes  on  a  daisy  $  I  plucked  it  mechanically  and 
viewed  it  with  more  curiosity  than  common  country 
farmers  are  wont  to  do,  and  I  observed  therein  many 
distinct  parts.  l  What  a  shame/  said  my  mind,  or 


FAIKMOUNT  PAKE  AND  SUBUKBS.     177 

something  that  inspired  my  mind,  i  that  thou  shouldst 
have  employed  so  many  years  in  tilling  the  earth 
and  destroying  so  many  flowers  and  plants  without 
being  acquainted  with  their  structure  and  their 
uses.'  r'  He  put  up  his  horses  at  once,  and  went  to 
the  city  and  bought  a  botany  and  Latin  grammar, 
which  began  his  wonderful  career.  He  devoted  his 
life  to  botany,  travelled  over  America  collecting 
specimens,  and  died  in  1777.  At  the  mouth  of  the 
Schuylkill  River  is  League  Island,  where  the  United 
States  has  an  extensive  navy  yard,  and  a  reserve 
fresh  water  basin  for  the  storage  of  naval  vessels 
when  out  of  commission.  The  attractive  Philadel 
phia  suburban  features  spread  westward  across  the 
Schuylkill,  and  are  largely  developed  in  the  north 
western  sections  of  Germantown  and  Chestnut  Hill, 
Jenkintown  and  the  Chelten-hills.  In  this  extensive 
section  the  wealth  of  the  people  has  of  late  years 
been  lavishly  expended  in  making  attractive  homes, 
and  the  suburban  belt  for  miles  around  the  city  dis 
plays  most  charming  scenery,  adorned  by  elaborate 
villas,  pleasant  lanes,  shady  lawns  and  well-kept 
grounds. 

The  chief  rural  attraction  of  Philadelphia  is  Fair- 
mount  Park,  one  of  the  world's  largest  pleasure- 
grounds.  It  includes  the  lands  bordering  both  sides 
of  the  Schuylkill  above  the  city,  having  been  pri 
marily  established  to  protect  the  water-supply. 
There  are  nearly  three  thousand  acres  in  the  Park, 
VOL.  I. —12 


178     AMEKICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

and  its  sloping  hillsides  and  charming  water  views 
give  it  unrivalled  advantages  in  delicious  natural 
scenery.  At  the  southern  end  is  the  oldest  water 
reservoir  of  six  acres,  on  top  of  a  curious  and  iso 
lated  conical  hill  about  ninety  feet  high,  which  is 
the  "  Fair  Mount,"  giving  the  Park  its  name.  The 
Schuylkill  is  dammed  here  to  retain  the  water,  and 
the  Park  borders  the  river  for  several  miles  above, 
and  its  tributary,  the  Wissahickon,  for  six  miles 
farther.  The  Park  road  entering  alongside  the  Fair- 
mount  hill  passes  a  colossal  equestrian  statue  of 
George  Washington,  and  beyond  a  fine  bronze  statue 
of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  also  an  equestrian  statue 
of  General  Grant.  The  roadways  are  laid  on  both 
sides  of  the  river  at  the  water's  edge,  and  also  over 
the  higher  grounds  at  the  summits  of  the  sloping 
bordering  hills,  thus  affording  an  almost  endless 
change  of  routes  and  views.  The  frequent  bridges 
thrown  across  the  river,  several  of  them  carrying 
railroads,  add  to  the  charm.  An  electric  railway  is 
constructed  through  the  more  remote  portions,  and 
displays  their  rustic  beauty  to  great  advantage.  All 
around  this  spacious  Park  the  growing  city  has  ex 
tended,  and  prosperous  manufacturing  suburbs  spread 
up  from  the  river,  the  chief  being  the  carpet  dis 
trict  of  the  Falls  and  the  cotton-mills  of  Manayunk, 
the  latter  on  the  location  of  an  old-time  Indian  vil 
lage,  whose  name  translated  means  "the  place  of 
rum."  In  this  Park,  west  of  the  Schuylkill,  was 


FAIKMOUNT  PAKE  AND  SUBUEBS.  179 

held  the  Centennial  Exposition  of  1876,  and  several 
of  the  buildings  remain,  notably  the  Memorial  Art 
Gallery,  now  a  museum,  and  the  Horticultural  Hall, 
where  the  city  maintains  a  fine  floral  display.  Wil 
liam  Penn's  "  Letitia  House,"  his  original  residence, 
removed  from  the  older  part  of  the  city,  now  stands 
near  the  entrance  to  the  West  Park. 

A  large  part  of  the  northeastern  bank  of  the 
Schuylkill  adjoining  the  Park  is  the  Laurel  Hill 
Cemetery.  Its  winding  walks  and  terraced  slopes 
and  ravines  give  constantly  varying  landscapes, 
making  it  one  of  the  most  beautiful  burial-places  in 
existence.  In  front,  the  river  far  beneath  curves 
around  like  a  bow.  Some  of  its  mausoleums  are  of 
enormous  cost  and  elaborate  ornamentation,  but  gen 
erally  the  grandeur  of  the  location  eclipses  the  work 
of  the  decorator.  Standing  on  a  jutting  eminence  is 
the  Disston  Mausoleum,  which  entombs  an  English 
sawmaker  who  came  to  Philadelphia  without  friends 
and  almost  penniless,  and  died  at  the  head  of  the 
greatest  sawmaking  establishment  on  the  Continent. 
At  one  place,  as  the  river  bends,  the  broad  and  rising 
terraces  of  tombs  curve  around  like  the  banks  of 
seats  in  a  grand  Roman  amphitheatre.  Here  is  the 
grave  of  General  Meade  who  commanded  at  Gettys 
burg.  In  a  plain,  unmarked  sepulchre  fronting  the 
river,  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock,  is  entombed  the 
Arctic  explorer  who  conducted  the  Grinnell  expedi 
tion  in  search  of  Sir  John  Franklin,  Dr.  Elisha  Kent 


180     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

Kane.  A  single  shaft  on  a  little  eminence  nearby 
marks  the  grave  of  Charles  Thomson,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Continental  Congress  that  made  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence.  Some  of  the  graves  are  in 
exquisite  situations,  many  having  been  chosen  by 
those  who  lie  there.  Here  are  buried  Thomas  God 
frey,  the  inventor  of  the  mariner's  quadrant  j  Gen 
eral  Hugh  Mercer,  who  fell  at  the  head  of  the 
Pennsylvania  troops  in  the  Revolutionary  battle  of 
Princeton,  the  Scots7  Society  of  St.  Andrew  having 
erected  a  monument  to  his  memory  j  Commodore 
Isaac  Hull,  who  commanded  the  American  frigate 
"  Constitution  "  in  the  War  of  1812  when  she  cap 
tured  the  British  frigate  "  Guerriere ;"  Harry  Wright, 
the  "  father  of  base-ball,"  who  died  in  1895  j  and 
Thomas  Buchanan  Read,  the  poet-artist.  At  the 
cemetery  entrance  is  the  famous  "  Old  Mortality " 
group,  carved  in  Scotland  and  sent  to  Philadelphia. 
The  quaint  old  Scotsman  reclines  on  a  gravestone, 
and  pauses  in  his  task  of  chipping-out  the  half- 
effaced  letters  of  the  inscription,  while  the  little  pony 
patiently  waits  alongside  of  him  for  his  master  and 
Sir  Walter  Scott  to  finish  their  discourse. 

The  peculiar  charm  of  Philadelphia  suburban 
scenery,  however,  is  the  Wissahickon — the  "  catfish 
stream "  of  the  Indians.  This  is  a  creek  rising  in 
the  hills  north  of  the  city,  and  breaking  through  the 
rocky  ridges,  flowing  by  tortuous  course  to  the 
Schuylkill  a  short  distance  above  Laurel  Hill.  It  is 


FAIKMOUNT  PAKK  AND  SUBURBS.  181 

an  Alpine  gorge  in  miniature,  with  precipitous  sides 
rising  two  to  three  hundred  feet,  and  the  winding 
road  along  the  stream  gives  a  charming  ride.  Popu 
lous  suburbs  are  on  the  higher  ridges,  but  the  ravine 
has  been  reserved  and  carefully  protected,  so  that 
all  the  natural  beauties  remain.  A  high  railway 
bridge  is  thrown  across  the  entrance  of  the  gorge  at 
the  Schuylkill,  and  rounding,  just  beyond,  a  sharp 
rocky  corner,  the  visitor  is  quickly  within  the  ravine, 
the  stream  nestling  deep  down  in  the  winding  fis 
sure.  For  several  miles  this  attractive  gorge  can  be 
followed ;  and  high  up  on  its  side,  in  a  commanding 
position  near  the  summit  of  the  enclosing  ridge,  one 
of  the  residents  has  placed  a  statue  of  William  Penn, 
most  appropriately  bearing  the  single  word  at  its 
base — "  Toleration."  This  splendid  gorge  skirts  the 
northwestern  border  of  the  popular  suburb  of  Ger- 
mantown,  and  the  creek  emerges  from  its  rocky  con 
fines  at  the  foot  of  Chestnut  Hill,  where  it  rends  the 
ridge  in  twain,  and  the  hillsides  are  dotted  with  at 
tractive  villas.  This  is  a  fashionable  residential  sec 
tion  whose  people  have  a  magnificent  outlook  over 
the  rich  agricultural  region  of  the  upper  Wissahickon 
Valley  and  the  hills  beyond. 

In  Germantown  is  the  historic  Chew  House,  bear 
ing  the  marks  of  cannon  balls,  which  was  the  scene 
of  the  battle  of  Germantown  in  October,  1777,  when 
the  British  under  Lord  Howe,  then  holding  Philadel 
phia,  defeated  General  Washington,  and  the  darkest 


182     AMEEICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

period  of  the  Revolution  followed,  the  Americans 
afterwards  retiring  to  their  sad  winter  camp  at  Val 
ley  Forge.  This  suburb  of  Germantown  is  almost 
as  old  as  Philadelphia.  It  was  originally  settled  in 
1683  by  Germans  who  came  from  Cresheim,  a  name 
that  is  preserved  in  the  chief  tributary  of  the  Wis- 
sahickon.  Their  leader  was  Daniel  Pastorius,  who 
bought  a  tract  of  fifty-seven  hundred  acres  of  land 
from  William  Penn  for  a  shilling  an  acre,  and  took 
possession  on  October  6th.  Their  settlement  pros 
pered  and  attracted  attention  in  the  Fatherland.  In 
1694  a  band  of  religious  refugees,  having  peculiar 
tenets  and  believing  that  the  end  of  the  world  was 
approaching,  determined  to  migrate  to  Germantown. 
They  were  both  Hollanders  and  Germans,  and  came 
from  Rotterdam  to  London,  whence,  under  the  guid 
ance  of  Johannes  Kelpius,  they  sailed  for  America 
upon  the  ship  "  Sara  Maria."  They  were  earnest 
and  scholarly  men,  and  Kelpius,  who  was  a  college 
graduate,  was  a  profound  theologian.  They  called 
themselves  the  "  Pietists."  Upon  their  voyage  they 
had  many  narrow  escapes,  but  every  danger  was 
averted  by  fervent  prayers.  Their  vessel  ran 
aground,  but  was  miraculously  floated  j  they  were 
nearly  captured  by  the  French,  but,  mustering  in 
such  large  numbers  on  the  deck  of  the  "  Sara 
Maria,"  they  scared  the  enemy  away ;  they  were 
badly  frightened  by  an  unexpected  eclipse  of  the 
sun 5  but  in  every  case  prayers  saved  them,  and  on 


FAIRMOUNT  PAKK  AND  SUBUEBS.  183 

June  14th  they  safely  landed  in  Chesapeake  Bay, 
marching  overland  to  the  Delaware  and  sailing  up  to 
Philadelphia,  where  they  disembarked. 

In  solemn  procession,  on  June  23,  1694,  led  by 
Kelpius,  they  walked,  two  and  two,  through  the  little 
town,  which  then  had  some  five  hundred  houses. 
They  called  on  the  Governor,  William  Markham,  rep 
resenting  Penn,  and  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
the  British  Crown.  In  the  evening  they  held  a 
solemn  religious  service  on  "the  Fair  Mount,"  at 
the  verge  of  the  Schuylkill.  In  it  they  celebrated 
the  old  German  custom  of  "  Sanct  Johannes  n  on  St. 
John's  eve.  They  lighted  a  fire  of  dry  leaves  and 
brushwood  on  the  hill,  casting  into  it  flowers,  pine 
boughs  and  bones,  and  then  rolled  the  dying  embers 
down  the  hillside  as  a  sign  that  the  longest  day  of 
the  year  was  past,  and  the  sun,  like  the  embers, 
would  gradually  lose  its  power.  The  next  morning 
was  the  Sabbath,  and  they  went  out  to  Germantown, 
where  they  were  warmly  welcomed.  They  built 
their  first  house,  since  called  the  Monastery,  near  the 
Wissahickon  Creek,  where  they  worked  and  wor 
shipped.  Their  house  they  called  "  The  Woman  of 
the  Wilderness,"  and  upon  its  roof,  day  and  night, 
some  of  them  stood,  closely  observing  the  changing 
heavens.  With  prayers  and  patience  they  watched 
for  the  end  of  the  world  and  the  coming  of  the  Lord, 
and  they  obeyed  the  ministry  of  Kelpius.  He  lived 
in  a  cave,  and  as  his  colony  of  enthusiasts  gradually 


184     AMEEICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

dwindled,  through  death  and  desertion,  he  came  to  be 
known  as  the  "  Hermit  of  the  Wissahickon."  Here 
he  dug  his  well  two  centuries  ago,  and  the  u  Her 
mit's  Pool"  still  exists.  He  constantly  preached 
the  near  approach  of  the  millennium,  and  exhibited 
his  magical  "  wisdom  stone."  Finally,  wearying  yet 
still  believing,  he  gave  up,  cast  his  weird  stone  into 
the  stream,  and  in  1704  he  died,  much  to  the  relief 
of  the  neighboring  Quaker  brethren,  who  did  not 
fancy  such  mysterious  alchemy  so  near  the  city  of 
Penn.  These  "  Pietists,"  or  "  Kelpians,"  as  they  were 
afterwards  called,  dispersed  over  the  country,  and 
had  much  to  do  with  guiding  the  religious  life  and 
mode  of  worship  among  the  early  German  settlers  in 
Pennsylvania.  Everywhere  in  German  Pennsylva 
nia  there  are  traces  of  their  influence,  and  especially 
at  Ephrata  and  Waynesboro  they  have  had  pious  and 
earnest  followers.  After  the  death  of  Kelpius,  their 
last  survivor  in  Germantown  was  Dr.  Christopher 
DeWitt,  famed  as  a  naturalist,  an  astronomer,  a 
clock-maker  and  a  magician.  He  was  a  close  friend 
of  John  Bartram,  lived  an  ascetic  life,  became  blind 
and  feeble,  and  finally  died  an  octogenarian  in  1765, 
thus  closing  with  his  life  the  active  career  of  the 
Kelpian  mystics. 

THE   SCHUYLKILL   RIVER. 

One  of  the  romances  of  Fairmount  Park  is  at 
tached  to  the  little  stone  cottage,  with  overhanging 


THE  SCHUYLKILL  EIVEK.  185 

roof,  down  by  the  Schuylkill  River  bank,  where  tra 
dition  says  that  the  Irish  poet,  Tom  Moore,  briefly 
dwelt  when  he  visited  Philadelphia  in  the  summer  of 
1804.  This  cottage  tradition  may  be  a  myth,  but 
the  poet  when  here  composed  an  ode  to  the  cottage 
and  to  the  Schuylkill,  which  is  as  attractive  as  the 
bewitching  river  scene  itself.  The  famous  ballad 
begins : 

"  I  knew  by  the  smoke  that  so  gracefully  curled 

Above  the  green  elms  that  a  cottage  was  near, 
And  I  said,  '  If  there's  peace  to  be  found  in  the  world, 
A  heart  that  was  humble  might  hope  for  it  here.'  " 

Tom  Moore's  letters  written  at  that  time  generally 
showed  dislike  for  much  that  he  saw  on  his  American 
journey,  but  he  seems  to  have  found  better  things  at 
Philadelphia,  and  was  delighted  with  the  Quaker  hos 
pitality.  His  ode  to  the  Schuylkill  shows  that  its 
beauties  impressed  him,  and  gives  evidence  of  his  re 
gard  for  the  people : 

"  Alone  by  the  Schuylkill,  a  wanderer  roved, 

And  bright  were  its  flowery  banks  to  his  eye ; 
But  far,  very  far,  were  the  friends  that  he  loved, 
And  he  gazed  on  its  flowery  banks  with  a  sigh. 

"  The  stranger  is  gone — but  he  will  not  forget, 

When  at  home  he  shall  talk  of  the  toil  he  has  known, 
To  tell  with  a  sigh  what  endearments  he  met, 

As  he  stray' d  by  the  wave  of  the  Schuylkill  alone  !" 

The  Schuylkill  River  is  the  chief  tributary  of  the 
Delaware,  an  Allegheny  Mountain  stream  about  one 


186     AMEEICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

hundred  and  twenty  miles  long,  coming  out  of  the 
Pennsylvania  anthracite  coal-fields,  and  falling  into 
the  Delaware  at  League  Island  in  such  a  lowland  re 
gion  that  its  mouth  is  scarcely  discernible.  In  fact, 
the  early  Dutch  explorers  of  the  Delaware  passed 
the  place  repeatedly  and  never  discovered  it  j  and 
when  the  stream  above  was  afterwards  found  by 
going  overland,  and  traced  down  to  its  mouth,  they 
appropriately  called  it  the  Schuylkill,  meaning  the 
"  hidden  river."  The  Indian  name  was  the  "  Gans- 
howe-hanne,"  or  the  "  roaring  stream,"  on  account 
of  its  many  rapids.  The  lowest  of  these,  which 
gave  the  name  of  the  "Falls"  to  a  Philadelphia 
suburb,  was  obliterated  by  the  backwater  from  the 
Fairmount  water-works  dam.  The  river  valley  is 
populous,  rich  in  manufactures  and  agriculture,  and, 
as  it  winds  through  ridge  after  ridge  of  the  Alle 
gheny  foothills,  displays  magnificent  scenery.  Both 
banks  are  lined  with  railways,  which  bring  the  an 
thracite  coal  from  the  mines  down  to  tidewater. 

Journeying  up  the  Schuylkill,  we  pass  the  flourish 
ing  manufacturing  towns  of  Conshohocken  and  Nor- 
ristown  and  come  into  the  region  of  the  "  Pennsyl 
vania  Dutch,"  where  the  inhabitants,  who  are  mostly 
of  Teutonic  origin,  speak  a  curious  dialect,  com 
pounded  of  German,  Dutch,  English  and  some  Indian 
words,  yet  not  folly  understood  by  any  of  those  races. 
These  industrious  people  are  chiefly  farmers  and 
handicraftsmen,  and  they  make  up  much  of  the  pop- 


BEADING  AND  POTTSVILLE.       187 

ulation  of  eastern  Pennsylvania,  while  their  "  sauer 
kraut  "  and  "  scrapple  "  have  become  staple  foods  in 
the  State.  Twenty-four  miles  above  Philadelphia, 
alongside  a  little  creek  and  almost  under  the  great 
Black  Rock,  a  towering  sandstone  ridge,  was  the 
noted  Valley  Forge,  the  place  of  encampment  of 
Washington's  tattered  and  disheartened  army  when 
the  defeats  at  Brandywine  and  Germantown  and  the 
loss  of  Philadelphia  made  his  prospects  so  dismal  in 
the  winter  of  1777-78,  one  of  the  severest  seasons 
ever  experienced  in  America.  The  encampment  is 
preserved  as  a  national  relic,  the  entrenchments 
being  restored  by  a  patriotic  association,  with  the 
little  farmhouse  beside  the  deep  and  rugged  hollow, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  creek,  which  was  Washing 
ton's  headquarters.  Phoenixville  and  Pottstown  are 
passed,  and  Birdsboro',  all  places  of  busy  and  pros 
perous  iron  manufacture,  and  then  the  river  valley 
leads  us  into  the  gorge  of  the  South  Mountain. 

BEADING   AND    POTTSVILLE. 

The  diminutive  Schuylkill  breaks  its  passage 
through  this  elevated  range,  with  Penn's  Mount  on 
one  side  and  the  Neversink  Mountain  on  the  other, 
and  here  is  located  the  most  populous  city  of  the 
Schuylkill  Valley — Reading,  with  seventy  thousand 
population,  a  seat  of  iron-making  and  extensive  rail 
way  shops,  having  a  fertile  agricultural  region  in  the 
adjacent  valleys.  This  expanding  and  attractive  city 


188     AMERICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCKIPTIVE. 

gives  its  name  to,  and  obtains  much  of  its  celebrity 
from  the  "  Philadelphia  and  Heading  Railway,"  the 
colossal  financial  institution  whose  woes  of  bank 
ruptcy  and  throes  of  reconstruction  have  for  so  many 
years  occupied  the  attention  of  the  world  of  finance. 
This  great  railway  branches  at  Reading,  and  its 
western  line  runs  off  through  red  sandstone  rocks 
and  among  iron  mills  and  out  upon  a  high  bridge, 
thrown  in  a  beautiful  situation  across  the  Schuylkill, 
and  proceeds  over  the  Lebanon  Valley  to  the  Sus- 
quehanna  River  at  Harrisburg.  This  rich  limestone 
valley,  between  the  South  Mountain  and  the  Blue 
Ridge,  is  a  good  farming  district,  and  also  a  wealthy 
region  of  iron  manufacture.  The  Reading  system 
also  sends  its  East  Pennsylvania  route  eastward  to 
AUentown  in  the  Lehigh  Valley,  and  thence  to  New 
York.  Factory  smokes  overhang  Reading,  through 
which  the  Schuylkill  flows  in  crooked  course,  spanned 
by  frequent  bridges,  and  puffing  steam  jets  on  all 
sides  show  the  busy  industries.  A  good  district  sur 
rounds  Reading  in  the  mountain  valleys,  and  the 
thrifty  Dutch  farmers  in  large  numbers  come  into 
the  town  to  trade.  The  high  forest-clad  mountains 
rise  precipitously  on  both  sides,  with  electric  railways 
running  up  and  around  them,  disclosing  magnificent 
views.  The  a  old  red  sandstone  n  of  these  enclosing 
hills  has  been  liberally  hewn  out  to  make  the  orna 
mental  columns  for  the  Court  House  portico  and  build 
the  castellated  jail,  and  also  the  red  gothic  chapel 


' 


Loop  of  the  Schuylkitt  ftom  Nebersink 
Mountains 


BEADING  AND  POTTSVILLE.  189 

and  elaborate  red  gateway  of  the  "  Charles  Evans' 
Cemetery,"  where  the  chief  townsfolk  expect,  like 
their  ancestry,  to  be  buried.  The  visitor  who  wishes 
to  see  one  of  the  most  attractive  views  over  city, 
river,  mountain  and  distant  landscape  can  climb  by 
railway  up  to  the  "  White  Spot,"  elevated  a  thou 
sand  feet  above  the  river,  on  Penn's  Mount.  This 
point  of  outlook  is  an  isolated  remnant  of  Potsdam 
sandstone,  lying,  the  geologists  say,  unconformably 
on  the  Laurentian  rock. 

Beyond  Reading,  the  Schuylkill  breaks  through 
the  Blue  Ridge  at  Port  Clinton  Gap,  eighteen  miles 
to  the  northwest.  The  winding  and  romantic  pass 
is  about  three  miles  long,  and  just  beyond  there  is,  at 
Port  Clinton,  a  maze  of  railway  lines  where  the 
Reading  Company  unites  its  branches  converging 
from  various  parts  of  the  anthracite  coal-fields.  The 
Little  Schuylkill  River  here  falls  into  the  larger 
stream,  and  a  branch  follows  it  northward  to  Ta- 
maqua,  while  the  main  line  goes  westward  to  Potts- 
ville.  The  summit  of  the  Blue  Ridge  is  the  eastern 
boundary  of  the  coal-fields,  and  the  country  beyond 
is  wild  and  broken.  The  next  great  Allegheny 
ridge  extending  across  the  country  is  the  Broad 
Mountain  beyond  Pottsville,  though  between  it  and 
the  Blue  Ridge  there  are  several  smaller  ridges,  one 
being  Sharp  Mountain.  The  country  is  generally 
black  from  the  coal,  and  the  narrow  and  crooked 
Schuylkill  has  its  waters  begrimed  by  the  masses  of 


190     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

culm  and  refuse  from  the  mines.  Schuylkill  Haven, 
ninety  miles  from  Philadelphia,  is  where  the  coal 
trains  are  made  up,  and  branches  diverge  to  the 
mines  in  various  directions.  Three  miles  beyond  is 
Pottsville,  confined  within  a  deep  valley  among  the 
mountains,  its  buildings  spreading  up  their  steep 
sides,  for  here  the  malodorous  and  blackened  little 
river  breaks  through  Sharp  Mountain.  This  is  a 
city  of  fifteen  thousand  people,  and  the  chief  town  of 
the  Schuylkill  or  Southern  coal-field,  which  produces 
ten  millions  of  tons  of  anthracite  annually.  The 
whole  country  roundabout  is  a  network  of  railways 
leading  to  the  various  mines  and  breakers,  and  there 
are  nearly  four  hundred  miles  of  railways  in  the 
various  levels  and  galleries  underground.  We  are 
told  that  in  the  eighteenth  century  John  Pott  built 
the  Greenwood  Furnace  and  Forge,  and  laid  out  this 
town ;  and  afterwards,  when  coal-mining  was  devel 
oped,  there  came  a  rush  of  adventurers  hither  ;  but 
of  late  years  Pottsville  has  had  a  very  calm  career. 

To  the  northward  of  the  Schuylkill  or  Southern 
coal-field,  and  beyond  the  Broad  Mountain,  is  the 
"Middle  coal-field,"  which  extends  westward  almost 
to  the  Susquehanna  River,  and  includes  the  Mahanoy 
and  Shamokin  Valleys.  Both  these  fields  also  ex 
tend  eastward  into  the  Lehigh  region  j  and  it  is  note 
worthy  that  as  all  these  coal  measures  extend  east 
ward  they  harden,  while  to  the  westward  they  soften. 
The  hardest  coals  come  from  the  Lehigh  district,  and 


THE  NEW  JERSEY  COAST  RESORTS.  191 

they  gradually  soften  as  they  are  dug  out  to  the 
westward,  until,  on  the  other  side  of  the  main  Alle 
gheny  range,  they  change  into  soft  bituminous,  and 
farther  westward  their  constituents  appear  in  the 
form  of  petroleum  and  as  natural  gases.  The  region 
beyond  Pottsville  is  unattractive.  Various  railways 
connect  the  Schuylkill  and  Lehigh  regions,  and  cross 
over  or  through  the  Broad  Mountain.  The  district 
is  full  of  little  mining  villages,  but  has  not  much  else. 
It  is  a  rough  country,  with  bleak  and  forbidding  hills, 
denuded  of  timber  by  forest  fires,  with  vast  heaps  of 
refuse  cast  out  from  the  mines,  some  of  them  the  ac 
cumulations  of  sixty  or  seventy  years.  Breakers 
are  at  work  grinding  up  the  fuel,  which  pours  with 
thundering  noise  into  the  cars  beneath.  The  surface 
is  strewn  with  rocks  and  d£briSj  and  the  dirty  waters 
of  the  streams  are  repulsive.  These  blackened 
brooks  of  the  Broad  Mountain  are  the  headwaters  of 
the  Schuylkill  Kiver. 

THE   NEW   JERSEY   COAST   RESORTS. 

The  Delaware  River  divides  Pennsylvania  from 
New  Jersey,  and  at  Camden,  opposite  Philadelphia, 
there  has  grown  another  large  city  from  the  over 
flow  of  its  population.  Ferries,  and  at  the  northern 
end  of  Philadelphia  harbor  an  elevated  railway 
bridge,  cross  over  to  Camden,  while  for  miles  the 
almost  level  surface  of  New  Jersey  has  suburban 
towns  and  villas,  the  homes  of  thousands  whose  busi- 


192     AMEKICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

ness  is  in  Philadelphia.  The  New  Jersey  seacoast 
also  is  a  succession  of  watering-places  where  the 
population  goes  to  cool  off  in  the  summer.  The 
whole  New  Jersey  coast  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  is  a 
series  of  sand  beaches,  interspersed  with  bays, 
sounds  and  inlets,  a  broad  belt  of  pine  lands  behind 
them  separating  the  sea  and  its  bordering  sounds 
and  meadows  from  the  farming  region.  This  coast 
has  become  an  almost  unbroken  chain  of  summer  re 
sorts  from  Cape  May,  at  the  southern  extremity  of 
New  Jersey,  northeastward  through  Sea  Isle  City, 
Avalon,  Ocean  City,  Atlantic  City,  Brigantine,  Beach 
Haven,  Sea  Girt,  Asbury  Park,  Ocean  Grove,  Long 
Branch,  Seabright,  etc.,  to  Sandy  Hook,  where  the 
long  sand-strip  terminates  at  the  entrance  to  New 
York  harbor.  To  these  many  attractive  places  the 
summer  exodus  takes  the  people  by  the  hundreds  of 
thousands.  The  chief  resort  of  all  is  Atlantic  City, 
which  has  come  to  be  the  most  popular  sea-bathing 
place  of  the  country,  the  railroads  running  excursion 
trains  to  it  even  from  the  Mississippi  Valley.  Three 
railroads  lead  over  from  Philadelphia  across  the 
level  Jersey  surface,  and  their  fast  trains  compass 
the  distance,  fifty-six  miles,  in  an  hour.  The  town 
is  built  on  a  narrow  sand-strip  known  as  Absecon 
Island,  which  is  separated  from  the  mainland  by  a 
broad  stretch  of  water  and  salt  meadows.  Absecon 
is  an  Indian  word  meaning  "  the  place  of  the  swans." 
The  beach  is  one  of  the  finest  on  the  coast,  and  along 


THE  NEW  JEESEY  COAST  KESOKTS.  193 

its  inner  edge  is  the  famous  "  Board  Walk  "  of  At 
lantic  City,  an  elevated  promenade  mostly  forty  feet 
wide,  and  four  miles  long.  On  the  land  side  this 
walk  is  bordered  by  shops,  bathing  establishments 
and  all  kinds  of  amusement  resorts,  while  the  town 
of  hotels,  lodging-houses  and  cottages,  almost  all 
built  of  wood,  stretches  inland.  The  population 
come  out  on  the  "  Board  Walk  "  and  the  great  piers, 
which  stretch  for  a  long  distance  over  the  sea.  It  is 
the  greatest  bathing-place  in  existence,  and  in  the 
height  of  the  season,  July  and  August,  fifty  thousand 
bathers  are  often  seen  in  the  surf  on  a  fine  day,  with 
three  times  as  many  people  watching  them.  Enor 
mous  crowds  of  daily  excursionists  are  carried  down 
there  by  the  railways.  The  permanent  population  is 
about  twenty  thousand,  swollen  in  summer  often 
fifteen-  or  twenty -fold.  Atlantic  City  is  also  a  popu 
lar  resort  in  winter  and  spring,  and  is  usually  well 
filled  at  Eastertide. 

The  other  New  Jersey  resorts  are  somewhat  simi 
lar,  though  smaller.  Cape  May,  on  the  southern  ex 
tremity  of  the  Cape,  is  popular,  and  has  a  fine  beach 
five  miles  long.  The  coast  for  many  miles  north 
eastward  has  cottage  settlements,  the  beaches  having 
similar  characteristics.  Many  of  these  settlements 
also  cluster  around  Great  Egg  Harbor  and  Barnegat 
Bay,  both  favorite  resorts  of  sportsmen  for  fishing 
and  shooting.  Asbury  Park  and  Ocean  Grove  are 
twin  watering-places  on  the  northern  Jersey  coast 
VOL.  L— 13 


194     AMEKICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

which  have  large  crowds  of  visitors.  The  former  is 
usually  filled  by  the  overflow  from  the  latter,  who 
object  to  the  Ocean  Grove  restrictions.  Ocean  Grove 
is  unique,  and  was  established  in  1870  by  a  Camp 
Meeting  Association  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  Here  many  thousands,  both  young  and 
old,  voluntarily  spend  their  summer  vacations  under 
a  religious  autocracy  and  obey  the  strict  rules.  It  is 
bounded  by  the  sea,  by  lakes  on  the  north  and  south, 
and  by  a  high  fence  on  the  land  side,  and  the  gates 
are  closed  at  ten  o'clock  at  night,  and  all  day  Sunday. 
The  drinking  of  alcoholic  beverages  and  sale  of  to 
bacco  are  strictly  prohibited,  and  no  theatrical  per 
formances  of  any  kind  are  allowed.  No  bathing, 
riding  or  driving  are  permitted  on  Sunday,  and  at 
other  times  the  character  of  the  bathing-dresses  is 
carefully  regulated.  There  is  a  large  Auditorium, 
accommodating  ten  thousand  people,  and  here  are 
held  innumerable  religious  meetings  of  all  kinds, 
The  annual  Camp  Meeting  is  the  great  event  of  the 
season,  and  among  the  attractions  is  an  extensive 
and  most  complete  model  of  the  City  of  Jerusalem. 

To  the  northward  is  Long  Branch,  the  most  fash 
ionable  and  exclusive  of  the  New  Jersey  coast  re 
sorts,  being  mainly  a  succession  of  grand  villas  and 
elaborate  hotels,  stretching  for  about  four  miles  along 
a  bluff  which  here  makes  the  coast,  and  has  grass 
growing  down  to  its  outer  edge  almost  over  the 
water.  In  the  three  sections  of  the  West  End, 


SHACKAMAXON  TO  BRISTOL.  195 

Elberon  and  Long  Branch  proper,  the  latter  getting 
its  name  from  the  "  Long  branch "  of  the  Shrews 
bury  River,  there  are  about  eight  thousand  regular 
inhabitants,  and  there  come  here  about  fifty  thousand 
summer  visitors,  largely  from  New  Yorko  The  great 
highway  is  Ocean  Avenue,  running  for  five  miles 
just  inside  the  edge  of  the  bluff,  which,  in  the  season, 
is  a  most  animated  and  attractive  roadway.  The 
hotels  and  cottages  generally  face  this  avenue.  The 
most  noted  cottages  are  the  one  which  General  Grant 
occupied  for  many  years,  and  where,  during  his 
Presidency  in  1869-77,  he  held  "  the  summer  capi 
tal  of  the  United  States,"  and  the  Franklyn  Cottage, 
where  President  Garfield,  after  being  shot  in  Wash 
ington,  was  brought  to  die  in  1881.  The  most 
famous  show  place  at  Long  Branch  is  Hollywood,  the 
estate  of  the  late  John  Hoey,  of  Adams  Express 
Company,  who  died  there  in  1892,  its  elaborate 
floral  decorations  being  much  admired. 

SHACKAMAXON   TO   BRISTOL. 

Journeying  up  the  Delaware  from  Philadelphia,  we 
pass  Petty  Island,  where  the  great  Indian  chief  of 
the  Lenni  Lenapes,  Tamanend,  had  his  lodge — the 
chieftain  since  immortalized  as  St.  Tammany,  who 
has  given  his  name  to  the  Tammany  Society  of  poli 
ticians  who  rule  New  York  City.  Petty  on  the  old 
maps  is  called  Shackamaxon  Island,  a  derivation  of 
the  original  Indian  name  of  Cackamensi.  St.  Tarn- 


196     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

many  is  described  as  a  chief  who  was  so  virtuous 
that  "  his  countrymen  could  only  account  for  the  per 
fections  they  ascribe  to  him  by  supposing  him  to  be 
favored  with  the  special  communications  of  the  Great 
Spirit."  In  the  eighteenth  century  many  societies 
were  formed  in  his  honor,  and  his  festival  was  kept 
on  the  1st  of  May,  but  the  New  York  Society  is  the 
only  one  that  has  survived.  Farther  up,  the  Tacony 
Creek  flows  into  the  Delaware,  the  United  States 
having  a  spacious  arsenal  upon  its  banks.  The  name 
of  this  creek  was  condensed  before  Penn's  time,  by 
the  Swedes,  from  its  Indian  title  of  Taokanink.  Be 
yond,  the  great  manufacturing  establishments  of  the 
city  gradually  change  to  charming  villas  as  we  move 
along  the  pleasant  sloping  banks  and  through  the 
level  country,  and  soon  we  pass  the  northeastern 
boundary  of  Philadelphia,  at  Torresdale.  This  bound 
ary  is  made  by  the  Poquessing  Creek,  being  the  abo 
riginal  Poetquessink,  or  "  the  stream  of  the  dragons." 
Across  the  river,  on  the  Jersey  shore,  formerly 
roamed  the  Rankokas  Indians,  an  Algonquin  tribe, 
whose  name  is  preserved  in  the  Rancocas  Creek, 
which  is  one  of  the  chief  tributaries  flowing  in  from 
New  Jersey.  At  Beverly,  not  far  above,  is  one  of 
the  most  popular  suburban  resorts,  the  villas  cluster 
ing  around  a  broad  cove,  known  as  Edgewater,  which 
appears  much  like  a  miniature  Bay  of  Naples.  Over 
opposite  is  the  wide  Neshaminy  Creek,  flowing  down 
from  the  Buckingham  Mountain  in  Pennsylvania,  its 


SHACKAMAXON  TO  BRISTOL.  197 

Indian  title  of  Nischam-hanne,  meaning  "the  two 
streams  flowing  together,"  referring  to  its  branches. 
The  earliest  settlers  along  this  creek  were  Scotch- 
Irish,  and  their  pastor  in  1726  was  Rev.  William 
Tennent,  the  famous  Presbyterian  preacher,  who 
founded  the  celebrated  "  Log  College "  on  the  Ne- 
shaminy,  "built  of  logs,  chinked  and  daubed  between, 
and  one  story  high,"  as  it  was  well  described.  From 
this  simple  college,  which  was  about  twenty  feet 
square,  were  sent  out  many  of  the  famous  Presby 
terian  preachers  of  the  eighteenth  century  5  and  from 
it  grew,  in  1746,  the  great  College  of  New  Jersey  at 
Princeton,  and  in  1783  Dickinson  College,  at  Car 
lisle,  Pennsylvania,  besides  many  other  schools  which 
were  started  by  its  alumni.  William  Tennent's  son, 
Gilbert,  was  his  assistant  and  successor.  The  great 
Whitefield  preached  to  an  audience  of  three  thousand 
at  this  College  in  1739.  He  was  attracted  there 
by  Gilbert  Tennent's  fame  as  a  preacher,  and  of 
him  on  one  occasion  wrote,  "I  went  to  the  meet 
ing  house  to  hear  Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent  preach,  and 
never  before  heard  I  such  a  searching  sermon ;  he 
is  a  son  of  thunder,  and  does  not  regard  the  face  of 
man." 

The  Delaware  River  broadens  into  two  channels 
around  Burlington  Island,  having  on  either  hand  the 
towns  of  Bristol  and  Burlington,  both  coeval  with  the 
first  settlement  of  Philadelphia,  and  Bristol  at  that 
early  day  having  had  an  ambition  to  become  the  loca- 


198     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

tion  of  Perm's  great  city.  The  ferry  connecting 
them  was  established  two  years  before  Penn  came  to 
Philadelphia,  and  in  the  eighteenth  century  they  had 
a  larger  carrying  trade.  Bristol  began  in  1680 
under  a  grant  from  Edmund  Andros,  then  the  Pro 
vincial  Governor  of  New  York,  for  a  town  site  and 
the  ferry,  which  is  curiously  described  in  the  Colonial 
records  as  "the  ferry  against  Burlington,"  then  the 
chief  town  in  West  Jersey.  The  settlement  was 
called  New  Bristol,  from  Bristol  in  England,  where 
lived  Penn's  wife,  Hannah  Callowhill.  It  was  the 
first  county  seat  of  Bucks  when  Penn  divided  his 
Province  into  the  three  counties — Chester,  Phila 
delphia  and  Buckingham.  It  was  for  many  years 
a  great  exporter  of  flour  to  the  West  Indies.  Its 
ancient  Quaker  Meeting  House  dates  from  1710, 
and  St.  James7  Episcopal  Church  from  1712 ;  but 
the  latter,  which  received  its  silver  communion 
service  from  the  good  Queen  Anne,  fell  into  decay 
and  has  been  replaced  by  a  modern  structure. 
Its  Bath  Mineral  Springs  made  it  the  most  fashion 
able  watering-place  in  America  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  but  Saratoga  afterwards  eclipsed  them,  and 
their  glory  has  departed.  Prior  to  the  Revolu 
tion,  Bristol  built  more  shipping  than  Philadelphia; 
and,  while  quiet  and  restful,  its  comfortable  homes 
and  the  picturesque  villas  along  the  Delaware 
River  bank  above  the  town  tell  of  its  prosperity 
now. 


OLD  BUELINGTON.  199 


OLD    BURLINGTON. 

The  ancient  town  of  Burlington,  clustered  behind 
its  "  Green  Bank  "  or  river-front  street  on  the  New 
Jersey  shore,  antedates  Philadelphia  five  years.  The 
Quaker  pioneers  are  believed  to  have  been  the  first 
Europeans  who  saw  its  site.  The  noted  preacher 
George  Fox,  in  1672,  journeyed  from  New  England 
to  the  South,  and  rode  on  horseback  over  the  site  of 
Burlington  at  Assiscunk  Creek,  reporting  the  soil  as 
good  "and  withal  a  most  brave  country."  When 
Penn  became  Trustee  for  the  insolvent  Billynge,  a 
Proprietor  of  West  Jersey,  much  of  his  land  was 
sold  to  Quakers,  who  migrated  to  the  American 
wilderness  to  escape  persecution  at  home.  Thus 
Burlington  was  the  first  settlement  founded  by  Quaker 
seekers  after  toleration  in  the  New  World : 

"  About  them  seemed  but  ruin  and  decay, 
Cheerless,  forlorn,  a  rank  autumnal  fen, 
Where  no  good  plant  might  prosper,  or  again 

Put  forth  fresh  leaves  for  those  that  fell  away  ; 

Nor  could  they  find  a  place  wherein  to  pray 
For  better  things.     In  righteous  anger  then 
They  turned  ;  they  fled  the  wilderness  of  men 

And  sought  the  wilderness  of  God.     And  day 
Eose  upon  day,  while  ever  manfully 

"Westward  they  battled  with  the  ocean's  might, 
Strong  to  endure  whatever  fate  should  be, 

And  watching  in  the  tempest  and  the  night 
That  one  sure  Pharos  of  the  soul's  dark  sea — 

The  constant  beacon  of  the  Inner  Light." 


200     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

In  the  spring  of  1677  the  "  goode  shippe  Kent," 
Gregory  Marlowe,  master,  sailed  from  London,  bound 
for  West  Jersey,  with  two  hundred  and  thirty 
Quakers,  about  half  coming  from  London  and  the 
others  from  Yorkshire ;  two  dying  on  the  voyage. 
They  ascended  the  Delaware  to  the  meadow  lands 
below  the  mouth  of  Assiscunk  Creek,  landing  there 
in  June,  and  in  October  made  a  treaty  with  the  In 
dians,  buying  their  lands  from  the  Rancocas  as  far 
up  as  Assunpink  Creek  at  Trenton.  Their  settlement 
was  first  called  New  Beverly,  and  then  Bridlington, 
from  the  Yorkshire  town  whence  many  of  them  came, 
but  it  finally  was  named  Burlington.  They  made  a 
street  along  the  river,  bordered  with  greensward,  and 
called  the  "  Green  Bank,"  and  drew  a  straight  line 
back  inland,  calling  it  their  Main  Street,  and  the  Lon 
doners  settled  on  one  side  and  the  Yorkshiremen  on 
the  other.  The  old  buttonwood  tree,  to  which  was 
moored  the  early  ships  bringing  settlers,  still  stands 
on  the  Green  Bank,  a  subject  of  weird  romance. 
Elizabeth  Powell,  the  first  white  child,  was  born  in 
July,  1677.  The  next  May,  1678,  they  established 
a  "  Monthly  Meeting  of  Friends  "  at  Burlington,  of 
which  the  records  have  been  faithfully  kept.  In 
June  the  graveyard  was  fenced  in,  and  the  old  Indian 
chief,  Ockanickon,  a  Quaker  convert  to  Christianity, 
was  among  the  first  buried  .there.  In  August  the  first 
Quaker  marriage  was  solemnized  in  meeting,  this 
first  certificate  being  signed  by  ten  men  and  three 


OLD  BUELINGTON.  201 

women  Friends  as  witnesses.  In  1682,  just  as  Penn 
was  coming  over,  they  decided  to  build  their  first 
meeting  house — a  hexagonal  building,  forty  feet  in 
diameter,  with  pyramidal  roof,  which  was  occupied 
the  next  year.  In  1685  they  decided  that  a  hearse 
should  be  built,  the  entry  on  the  record  being  an 
order  for  a  "  carriage  to  be  built  for  ye  use  of  such 
as  are  to  be  laid  in  ye  ground." 

Burlington  grew,  and  was  long  the  seat  of  govern 
ment  of  the  Province  of  West  Jersey,  being  the 
official  residence  of  the  Provincial  Governors,  the 
last  of  whom  was  William  Franklin,  natural  son  of 
Benjamin  Franklin.  It  had  wealthy  merchants  and 
much  shipping,  and,  despite  its  peacefulness,  equipped 
privateers  to  fight  the  French.  Its  famous  old  Epis 
copal  Church  of  St.  Mary  had  the  corner-stone  laid  in 
1703  under  the  favor  of  Queen  Anne,  who  made  a 
liberal  endowment  of  lands,  much  being  yet  held,  and 
gave  it  a  massive  and  greatly  prized  communion  ser 
vice.  This  old  church  is  cruciform,  with  a  little  bel 
fry,  and  a  stone  let  into  the  front  wall  bears  the  in 
scription  "  One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism."  In 
the  extensive  churchyard  alongside  is  the  modern 
St.  Mary's  Church,  of  brownstone,  with  a  tall  spire, 
also  cruciform.  This  is  the  finest  church  in  Burlington. 
When  "  Old  St.  Mary's "  was  built  with  its  belfry, 
the  Friends  did  not  like  the  innovation,  and  long 
gazed  askance  at  the  "  steeple  house,"  as  they  called 
it  j  so  that  Talbot,  the  first  rector,  sturdily  retaliated, 


202     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

calling  the  Quakers  "  anti-Christians,  who  are  worse 
than  the  Turks."  Many  of  St.  Mary's  parishioners 
of  to-day  are  descended  from  these  maligned  Quakers. 
The  early  records  of  the  Meeting  are  filled  with  en 
tries  showing  that  charges  were  brought  against  mem 
bers  for  various  shortcomings.  One  was  admonished 
for  "  taking  off  his  hat "  at  a  funeral  solemnized  in 
the  "steeple  house  5"  others  gave  testimony  of  "un 
easiness  "  on  account  of  the  placing  of  "  gravestones 
in  the  burial-ground  j "  a  query  was  propounded, 
"  Are  Friends  in  meeting  preserved  from  sleeping  or 
any  other  indecent  behavior,  particularly  from  chew 
ing  tobacco  and  taking  snuff  f "  A  record  was  also 
made  of  testimony  against  "  a  pervading  custom  of 
working  on  First  days  in  the  time  of  hay  and  har 
vest  "  when  rain  threatened.  The  descendants  of 
these  good  people  have  established  St.  Mary's  Hall 
and  Burlington  College,  noted  educational  institutions. 
Probably  the  most  famous  son  of  Burlington  was 
the  distinguished  novelist,  James  Fenimore  Cooper, 
born  in  1789,  but  taken  in  his  infancy  by  his  parents 
to  his  future  home  at  Cooperstown,  in  Central  New 
York.  The  town  was  bombarded  by  the  British  gun 
boats  that  sailed  up  the  Delaware  in  1778,  but  since 
then  the  career  of  Burlington  has  been  eminently 
peaceful. 

BORDENTOWN  AND  ITS   MEMORIES. 

Above    Burlington    Island    the    Delaware    winds 
around  a  jutting  tongue  of  flat  land,  "  Penn's  Neck," 


BOEDENTOWN  AND  ITS  MEMOBIES.  203 

which  is  one  of  the  noted  regions  of  the  river,  the  an 
cient  "Manor  of  Pennsbury."  This  was  Penn's 
country  home,  originally  a  tract  of  over  eight  thou 
sand  acres,  the  Indian  domain  of  "  Sepessing."  His 
house,  which  he  occupied  in  1700-01,  was  then  the 
finest  on  the  river,  but  it  long  ago  fell  into  decay,  and 
the  manor  was  all  sold  away  from  his  descendants 
during  the  eighteenth  century.  At  the  eastern  ex 
tremity  of  "  Penn's  Neck,"  on  the  New  Jersey  shore, 
is  White  Hill,  with  the  village  of  Bordentown  be 
yond,  up  Crosswick's  Creek.  Here  is  a  region  red 
olent  with  historical  associations.  The  old  buildings 
along  the  river  bank  were  the  railway  shops  of  the 
famous  "  Camden  and  Amboy,"  whose  line,  coming 
along  the  Delaware  shore,  goes  off  up  Crosswick's 
Creek  to  cross  New  Jersey  on  the  route  to  New 
York.  Above  is  the  dense  foliage  of  Bonaparte 
Park,  now  largely  occupied  by  the  Convent  and 
Academy  of  St.  Joseph.  Bordentown  was  a  growth 
of  the  railway,  having  been  previously  little  more 
than  a  ferry,  originally  started  by  Joseph  Borden. 
Its  most  distinguished  townsman  was  Admiral  Charles 
Stewart,  "  Old  Ironsides  "  of  the  American  navy,  a 
relic  of  the  early  wars  of  the  country,  his  crowning 
achievement  being  the  command  of  the  frigate  "  Con 
stitution"  when  she  captured  the  two  British  vessels, 
"Cyane  "  and  "Levant."  He  was  the  "  Senior  Flag 
Officer "  of  the  navy  when  he  died  in  1860  on  his 
Bordentown  farm,  to  which  he  had  returned.  The 


204     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

old  house  where  he  lived  is  on  a  bluff  facing  the  river. 
He  was  the  grandfather  of  the  noted  Irish  leader, 
Charles  Stewart  Parnell. 

To  Bordentown,  in  1816,  Joseph  Bonaparte,  the 
ex-King  of  Naples  and  of  Spain,  and  eldest  brother  of 
Napoleon,  came  to  live,  as  the  Count  de  Survilliers, 
and  bought  the  estate  known  since  as  Bonaparte 
Park.  It  was  through  Stewart's  persuasion,  mainly, 
that  he  located  there,  the  estate  covering  ten  farms 
of  about  one  thousand  acres.  Lafayette  visited  him 
in  1824,  and  Louis  Napoleon,  afterwards  Napoleon 
III.,  in  1837.  Joseph  returned  to  Europe  in  1839, 
dying  in  Florence  in  1844.  Another  famous  resi 
dent  of  Bordentown  was  Prince  Murat,  the  nephew 
of  Napoleon  and  of  Joseph,  and  the  son  of  the  dash 
ing  Prince  Joachim  Murat,  who  was  King  of  the 
Sicilies,  and  was  shot  by  sentence  of  court-martial 
after  Waterloo.  Prince  Murat  came  in  1822,  bought 
a  farm,  got  married,  lived  a  rather  wild  life,  but  was 
generally  liked,  and,  going  through  various  fortunes, 
returned  to  France  after  the  Revolution  of  1848  and 
was  restored  to  his  honors.  He  was  with  Marshal 
Bazaine  in  the  capitulation  of  Metz  in  1870  and  be 
came  a  prisoner  of  war,  and  died  in  1878. 

THE    STORY   OF    CAMDEN   AND    AMBOY. 

The  great  memory  of  Bordentown,  however,  is  of 
the  famous  railroad,  originally  begun  there,  whose 
managers  for  nearly  a  half-century  so  successfully 


THE  STOKY  OF  CAMDEN  AND  AMBOY.         205 

ruled  New  Jersey  that  it  came  to  be  generally  known 
throughout  the  country  as  "  the  State  of  Camden  and 
Amboy."  In  the  little  old  Bordentown  station,  which 
still  exists,  set  in  the  bottom  of  a  ravine,  with  the 
house  built  over  the  railroad,  were  for  many  years 
held  the  annual  meetings  of  the  corporation ;  and  its 
magnates  also  met  in  almost  perpetual  session,  to  gen 
erally  run  things,  social,  political  and  financial,  for  the 
State  of  New  Jersey,  and  semi-annually  declare  mag 
nificent  dividends.  Not  far  from  this  station  a  monu 
ment  marks  the  place  of  construction  of  the  first  piece 
of  railway  track  in  New  Jersey,  laid  by  the  Camden 
and  Amboy  Company  in  1831.  Upon  this  track  the 
first  movement  of  a  passenger  train  by  steam  was 
made  by  the  locomotive  "  John  Bull,"  on  November 
12th  of  that  year.  This  granite  monument,  erected 
in  1891  to  commemorate  the  sixtieth  anniversary, 
stands  upon  a  foundation  composed  of  the  stone  blocks 
on  which  the  first  rails  were  laid,  and  two  of  these 
original  rails  encircle  it.  A  bronze  tablet  upon  the 
monument  represents  the  old  "  John  Bull,"  with  his 
primitive  whisky-cask  tender,  and  the  two  little  old- 
time  passenger  coaches  which  made  up  the  first  train 
he  drew.  Thus  began  the  great  railroad  highway 
between  the  two  chief  cities  of  the  United  States. 

The  original  method  of  transport  between  Phila 
delphia  and  New  York  was  by  steamboat  on  the 
Delaware  to  South  Trenton,  stages  from  Trenton  to 
New  Brunswick  on  the  Raritan  River,  and  then  by 


206     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

steamboat  to  New  York.  This  was  the  "Union 
Line,"  which  for  many  years  carried  the  passengers, 
and  of  which  John  Stevens  was  the  active  spirit.  He 
conceived  the  first  idea  of  a  railway,  and  in  1817 
procured  the  first  railway  charter  in  America  for  a 
railroad  upon  his  stage  route  between  Trenton  and 
New  Brunswick.  In  subsequent  years  there  were 
advocates  both  of  a  railway  and  a  canal  across  New- 
Jersey,  his  son,  Robert  L.  Stevens,  being  the  rail 
way  chieftain,  while  Commodore  Robert  F.  Stockton 
championed  the  canal,  the  rival  projects  appearing 
before  the  New  Jersey  Legislature  in  1829-30,  and 
causing  a  most  bitter  controversy.  It  is  related  that 
the  conflict  was  ended  in  a  most  surprising  manner. 
Between  the  acts  of  a  play  at  the  old  Park  Theatre 
in  New  York,  Stevens  and  Stockton  accidentally  met 
in  the  vestibule,  and  after  a  few  minutes7  talk  agreed 
to  end  their  dispute  by  joining  forces.  The  result 
was  that  on  February  4,  1830,  both  companies  were 
chartered — the  "  Camden  and  Amboy  Railroad  and 
Transportation  Company "  and  the  "  Delaware  and 
Raritan  Canal  Company."  In  furtherance  of  this 
compromise,  what  is  known  as  the  celebrated  "  Mar 
riage  Act"  was  passed  a  year  later,  creating  the 
"Joint  Companies,"  their  stock  being  combined  at 
the  same  valuation,  though  each  had  a  separate  or 
ganization.  They  were  given  a  monopoly  of  the 
business,  paying  transit  dues  to  the  State  of  ten  cents 
per  passenger  and  fifteen  cents  per  ton  of  freight 


THE  STOKY  OF  CAMDEN  AND  AMBOY.         207 

carried,  and  this  afterwards  practically  paid  all  the 
expenses  of  the  New  Jersey  State  Government.  The 
railroad  was  completed  between  Bordentown  and 
Amboy  in  1832,  and  on  December  17th  the  first  pas 
sengers  went  through,  fifty  or  sixty  of  them.  It  was 
a  rainy  day,  and  the  cars  were  drawn  by  horses,  for 
they  could  not  in  those  days  trust  their  locomotive 
out  in  the  rain.  The  next  year  regular  travel  began, 
galloping  horses  taking  the  cars  from  Bordentown 
over  to  Amboy  in  about  three  hours,  there  being 
three  relays.  Later  in  the  year  the  locomotive 
u  John  Bull "  took  one  train  daily,  each  way.  In 
1871  all  the  railway  and  canal  properties  of  the  two 
companies,  which  had  become  very  extensive,  were 
absorbed  by  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  which  pays 
as  rental  10  per  cent,  annual  dividends  on  the  stocks. 
The  line  of  the  Delaware  and  Raritan  Canal 
begins  at  Crosswick's  Creek  in  Bordentown,  and  is 
constructed  alongside  the  Delaware  River  up  to 
Trenton,  and  thence  across  New  Jersey  to  the  Rari 
tan  River  at  New  Brunswick.  This  is  a  much-used 
"  inside  water  route,"  and  it  had  one  of  the  old  lines 
of  the  railroad  constructed  on  the  canal  bank  all  the 
way.  It  was  in  former  times  a  very  profitable 
route,  and  is  said  to  have  made  most  of  the  dividends 
of  the  old  monopoly,  as  it  carried  the  greater  part  of 
the  freight  between  the  cities.  It  was  originally  pro 
jected  in  1804,  but  the  scheme  slumbered  for  years. 
When  the  route  was  surveyed  through  Princeton, 


208     AMEEICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

where  Commodore  Stockton  lived,  he  became  inter 
ested,  and  he  induced  his  father-in-law,  John  Potter, 
of  South  Carolina,  who  had  over  $500,000  in  the 
United  States  Bank,  to  withdraw  the  money  and  in 
vest  it  in  the  canal,  he  being  the  chief  shareholder. 
Thus  his  fortune  was  not  only  saved  from  the  bank's 
subsequent  collapse,  but  was  increased  by  the  profit 
able  investment.  The  canal  is  forty-three  miles  long, 
with  fourteen  locks  in  its  course,  having  an  aggre 
gate  rise  and  fall  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  Its 
enlargement  to  the  dimensions  of  a  ship  canal  is  sug 
gested. 

THE   TRENTON   GRAVEL. 

In  journeying  up  the  Delaware  and  approaching 
Trenton,  we  have  passed  through  a  region  of  most 
interesting  geological  development.  All  along  are 
evidences  of  the  deposit  of  the  drift  from  above, 
which  is  popularly  known  as  the  "Trenton  gravel." 
The  Delaware  flows  southeast  from  the  Kittatinny 
Water  Gap  to  Bordentown,  and  then,  impinging 
against  the  cretaceous  stratified  rocks  of  New  Jersey, 
abruptly  turns  around  a  right-angled  bend  and  goes 
off  southwestward  towards  Philadelphia.  The  river 
has  thus  deposited  the  Trenton  gravels,  composed  of 
the  drift  of  most  of  the  geological  formations  in  its 
upper  waters,  throughout  its  course,  on  the  Pennsyl 
vania  side  from  Trenton  down  below  Philadelphia. 
This  deposit  is  fifty  feet  deep  on  the  river  bank  in 
Philadelphia,  and  underlies  the  river  bed  for  nearly  a 


THE  TEENTON  GEAVEL.  209 

hundred  feet  in  depth.  At  Bristol  the  deposit  stretches 
two  miles  back  from  the  river,  and  at  Trenton  it  is 
almost  universal.  The  material,  which  in  the  lower 
reaches  is  generally  fine,  grows  coarser  as  the  river 
is  ascended,  until  at  Trenton  immense  boulders  are 
often  found  imbedded.  We  are  told  by  geologists 
that  at  the  time  of  the  great  flood  in  the  river  which 
deposited  the  gravel,  the  lower  part  of  Philadelphia, 
the  whole  of  Bristol  and  Penn's  Neck  and  almost  all 
Trenton  were  under  water.  The  gravel  has  dis 
closed  bones  of  Arctic  animals — walrus,  reindeer  and 
mastodon — and  also  traces  of  ancient  mankind. 
The  latter  have  been  found  at  Trenton  and  on  Ne- 
shaminy  Creek,  indicating  the  presence  of  a  race  of 
men  said  to  have  lived  about  seven  thousand  years 
ago.  The  river  has  also  made  immense  clay  de 
posits  all  along,  which  was  done  at  a  time  when  the 
water  flowed  at  a  level  more  than  a  hundred  feet 
higher  than  now. 

In  the  early  geological  history  of  the  Delaware  it 
is  found  that  all  southern  New  Jersey  lay  deep  be 
neath  the  Atlantic,  whose  waves  broke  against  the 
ranges  of  hills  northwest  and  north  of  Philadelphia, 
and  an  inlet  from  the  sea  extended  into  the  great 
Chester  limestone  valley  behind  them.  This  whole 
region,  then  probably  five  hundred  feet  lower  than 
now,  was  afterwards  slowly  upheaved,  and  the  waters 
retreated.  Subsequently  the  climate  grew  colder, 
and  the  great  glacial  ice-cap  crept  down  from  Green- 
VOL.  I.— 14 


210     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

land  and  Labrador,  forming  a  huge  sea  of  ice,  thou 
sands  of  feet  thick,  which  advanced  on  the  Delaware 
to  Belvidere,  sixty  miles  north  of  Philadelphia.  Then 
there  came  another  gradual  change ;  the  land  de 
scended  to  nearly  two  hundred  feet  below  the  present 
level,  and  again  the  waters  overflowed  almost  the 
whole  region.  This  was  ice-cold,  fresh  water,  bear 
ing  huge  icebergs  and  floes,  which  stranded  on  the 
hills,  forming  a  shore  on  the  higher  lands  northwest 
of  Philadelphia.  The  river  channel  was  then  ten 
miles  wide  and  two  hundred  feet  deep  all  the  way 
down  from  Trenton,  and  a  roaring  flood  depositing 
the  red  gravel  along  its  bed.  As  the  torrent,  ex 
pending  its  force,  though  still  filled  with  mud  and 
sand  from  the  base  of  the  glacial  ice-cap,  became 
more  quiet,  it  laid  down  the  clays,  the  stranded  ice 
bergs  dropping  their  far-carried  boulders  all  along 
the  route.  This  era  of  cold  water  and  enormous 
floods  is  computed  to  have  occupied  a  period  of 
about  two  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  years,  and 
then  the  "  Ice  Age "  finally  terminated.  The  land 
rose  about  to  its  present  level,  the  waters  retreated, 
and  elevated  temperatures  thawed  more  and  more  of 
the  glaciers  remaining  in  the  headwaters,  so  that 
there  came  down  the  last  great  floods  which  depos 
ited  the  "  Trenton  gravel."  The  river  was  still 
wide  and  deep,  and  Arctic  animals  roamed  the 
banks.  Mankind  then  first  appeared,  living  in  prim 
itive  ways  in  caves  and  holes,  and  hunting  and  fish- 


TKENTON  AND  ITS  BATTLE  MONUMENT.   211 

ing  along  the  swollen  Delaware  ten  thousand  years 
ago.  Occasionally  they  dropped  in  the  waters  their 
rude  stone  implements  and  weapons,  which  were 
buried  in  the  gravel,  and,  being  recently  found,  are 
studied  to  tell  the  story  of  their  ancient  owners. 
The  river  deposited  its  gravel  and  the  channel  shrunk 
with  dwindling  current,  moving  gradually  eastward 
as  it  eat  its  way  into  the  cretaceous  measures.  The 
primitive  man  retired,  making  way  for  the  red  In 
dian,  and  the  present  era  dawned,  with  the  more 
moderate  climate,  and  with  again  a  slow  sinking  of 
the  land,  which  the  geologists  say  is  now  in  progress. 

TRENTON   AND   ITS    BATTLE   MONUMENT. 

Trenton,  the  capital  of  New  Jersey,  is  thirty  miles 
from  Philadelphia,  a  prosperous  city  with  seventy 
thousand  people.  The  first  and  most  lasting  impres 
sion  many  visitors  get  of  it  is  of  the  deep  rift  cut 
into  the  clays  and  gravels  of  the  southern  part  of  the 
town,  to  let  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  go  through. 
Here,  as  everywhere,  are  displayed  the  lavish  de 
posits  of  the  "  Trenton  gravel "  as  the  railway  passes 
under  the  streets,  and  even  under  the  Delaware  and 
Raritan  Canal,  to  its  depressed  station  alongside  As- 
sunpink  Creek  of  Revolutionary  memory,  the  chief 
part  of  the  city  spreading  far  to  the  northward. 
Trenton  is  as  old  as  Philadelphia,  its  reputed  founder 
being  Mahlon  Stacy,  who  came  up  from  Burlington 
Friends'  Meeting,  while  the  settlement  was  named 


212     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

for  William  Trent,  an  early  Jersey  law-maker.  The 
Trenton  potteries  are  its  chief  industry,  established 
by  a  colony  of  Staffordshire  potters  from  England, 
attracted  by  its  prolific  clay  deposits  j  and  the  conical 
kilns,  which  turn  out  a  product  worth  five  or  six  mil 
lions  of  dollars  annually,  are  scattered  at  random 
over  the  place.  Their  china  ware  has  been  advanced 
to  a  high  stage  of  perfection,  and  displays  exquisite 
decoration.  The  Trenton  cracker  factories  are  also 
famous.  The  finest  building  is  the  State  House,  as 
the  Capitol  is  called,  the  Delaware  River's  swift  cur 
rent  bubbling  over  rocks  and  among  grassy  islands 
out  in  front  of  the  grounds.  At  Broad  and  Clinton 
Streets,  the  intersection  of  two  of  the  chief  high 
ways,  mounted  as  an  ornament  upon  a  drinking-foun- 
tain,  is  the  famous  a  Swamp  Angel "  cannon,  brought 
from  Charleston  harbor  after  the  Civil  War.  This 
was  one  of  the  earliest  heavy  guns  made,  plain  and 
rather  uncouth-looking,  about  ten  feet  long,  and 
rudely  constructed  in  contrast  with  the  elongated  and 
tapering  rifled  cannon  of  to-day,  and  it  rests  upon  a 
conical  pile  of  brownstone.  It  was  the  most  noted 
gun  of  the  Civil  War,  an  eight-inch  Parrott  rifle,  or 
two-hundred-pounder,  and,  when  fired,  carried  a 
one-hundred-and-fifty-pound  projectile  seven  thou 
sand  yards  from  a  battery  on  Morris  Island  into  the 
city  of  Charleston,  which  was  then  regarded  as  a 
prodigious  achievement.  It  is  a  muzzle-loader,  weigh 
ing  about  eight  tons,  and  burst  after  firing  thirty-six 


TRENTON  AND  ITS  BATTLE  MONUMENT.   213 

rounds  at  Charleston,  in  August,  1863,  the  fracture 
being  plainly  seen  around  the  breech. 

Trenton's  great  historical  feature  is  the  Revolu 
tionary  battlefield,  now  completely  built  upon.  Wash 
ington,  having  crossed  the  Delaware  on  Christmas 
night,  in  the  early  morning  of  December  26,  1776, 
marched  down  to  Trenton,  and  surprised  and  defeated 
the  Hessians  under  Rahl,  who  were  encamped  north 
of  Assunpink  Creek.  A  fine  battle-monument  stands 
in  a  small  park  adjoining  Warren  Street,  at  the  point 
where  Washington's  army,  coming  into  town  from 
the  north,  first  engaged  the  enemy.  Here  Alexander 
Hamilton,  then  Captain  of  the  New  York  State  Com 
pany  of  Artillery,  opened  fire  from  his  battery  on  the 
Hessians,  who  fled  through  the  town,  along  Warren, 
then  called  King  Street.  The  monument  is  a  fluted 
Roman-Doric  column,  rising  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  feet,  surmounted  by  a  statue  of  Washington, 
representing  him  standing,  field-glass  in  hand,  sur 
veying  the  flying  Hessians,  his  right  arm  pointing 
down  Warren  Street.  The  elevated  top  of  this 
monument  gives  a  grand  view  over  the  surrounding 
country,  the  course  of  the  Delaware  being  traced  for 
miles.  The  subsequent  fortnight's  campaign  ending 
in  the  battle  of  Princeton  revived  the  drooping  spirits 
of  the  Americans,  and  was  said  by  as  accomplished 
a  soldier  as  Frederick  the  Great  to  be  among  "  the 
most  brilliant  in  the  annals  of  military  achievements." 
Trenton  is  at  the  head  of  tidewater  on  the  Delaware, 


214     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

the  stream  coming  down  rapids,  known  as  the  "Falls." 
On  the  Pennsylvania  side  is  Morrisville,  called  after 
Robert  Morris,  who  lived  there  during  the  Revolu 
tion.  His  estate  subsequently  became  the  home  of 
the  famous  French  General  Jean  Victor  Moreau,  the 
victor  at  Hohenlinden,  who  was  exiled  by  Napoleon 
in  1804.  He  returned  to  Europe  afterwards  at  the 
invitation  of  the  Czar  Alexander,  and  devised  for  him 
a  plan  for  invading  France.  They  were  both  at  the 
battle  of  Dresden  in  1813,  and  were  consulting  about 
a  certain  manoeuvre  when  a  cannon  ball  from  Napo 
leon's  Guard  broke  both  Moreau's  legs,  and  he  died 
five  days  afterwards. 

PRINCETON  BATTLE   AND   COLLEGE. 

A  few  days  after  Washington's  victory  at  Trenton, 
CornwaUis,  in  January,  1777,  advanced  across  Jer 
sey  to  crush  the  Americans,  but  he  was  repulsed  at 
the  ford  of  Assunpink  Creek  in  Trenton.  Then 
Washington  resorted  to  a  ruse.  Leaving  his  camp- 
fires  brightly  burning  near  the  creek  at  night  to  de 
ceive  the  enemy,  he  quietly  withdrew,  and  made  a 
forced  march  ten  miles  northeast  to  Princeton,  and 
fell  upon  three  British  regiments  there,  who  were 
hastening  to  join  CornwaUis,  defeating  them,  and 
storming  Nassau  Hall,  in  which  some  of  the  fugitives 
had  taken  refuge.  Trenton  is  in  Mercer  County, 
named  in  honor  of  General  Hugh  Mercer,  who  fell  in 
this  battle,  at  the  head  of  the  Philadelphia  troops. 


PKINCETON  BATTLE  AND  COLLEGE.         215 

Princeton  is  a  town  of  about  thirty-five  hundred  in 
habitants,  a  quiet  place  of  elegant  residences,  in  a 
level  and  luxuriant  country.  It  is  the  seat  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  originally  founded  at  Eliza 
beth,  near  New  York,  in  1746,  and  transferred  here 
in  1757.  It  is  best  known  as  Nassau  Hall,  or  Prince 
ton  University,  being  liberally  endowed,  and  having 
notable  buildings  surrounding  its  spacious  campus, 
and  is  a  Presbyterian  foundation,  which  has  about 
eleven  hundred  students.  The  original  Nassau  Hall 
erected  in  1757,  but  burnt  many  years  ago,  was  so 
named  by  the  Synod  "to  express  the  honor  we  re 
tain  in  this  remote  part  of  the  globe  to  the  immortal 
memory  of  the  glorious  King  William  the  Third,  who 
was  a  branch  of  the  illustrious  House  of  Nassau." 
Dr.  John  Witherspoon,  the  celebrated  Scotch  Pres 
byterian  divine,  who  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  was  for  thirty  years  its 
President,  and  among  the  early  graduates  were  two 
other  signers,  Richard  Stockton  and  Benjamin  Rush. 
The  final  conflict  of  the  battle  of  Princeton  raged 
around  this  venerated  building,  and  Washington  pre 
sented  fifty  guineas  to  the  College  to  repair  the  dam 
age  done  by  his  bombardment.  In  the  adjacent 
Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary  have  been  edu 
cated  many  able  clergymen.  In  Princeton  Cemetery 
are  the  remains  of  the  wonderful  preacher  and  meta 
physician,  Jonathan  Edwards,  who  became  President 
of  the  College  in  1758,  dying  shortly  afterwards.  A 


216     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

panegyrist,  describing  his  merits  as  a  great  Church 
leader,  compressed  all  in  this  remarkable  sentence : 
"  These  three — Augustine,  Calvin  and  Jonathan  Ed 
wards."  His  son-in-law  and  predecessor  as  Presi 
dent  was  Rev.  Aaron  Burr  j  and  near  his  humble 
monument  is  another,  marking  the  grave  of  his  grand 
son,  who  was  an  infant  when  the  great  preacher  died, 
and  whose  career  was  in  such  startling  contrast — the 
notorious  Aaron  Burr,  Vice-President  of  the  United 

States. 

MARSHALL'S  WALK. 

The  Delaware  River  above  Trenton  is  for  miles  a 
stream  of  alternating  pools  and  rapids,  with  canals  on 
either  side,  passing  frequent  villages  and  displaying 
pleasant  scenery  as  it  breaks  through  the  successive 
ridges  in  its  approach  to  the  mountains.  Alongside 
the  river,  in  Solebury,  Bucks  County,  in  the  early 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  was  the  humble  home 
of  the  pioneer  and  hunter,  Edward  Marshall,  who 
made  the  fateful  "walk"  of  1737,  the  injustice  of 
which  so  greatly  provoked  the  Indians,  and  was  a 
chief  cause  of  the  most  savage  Indian  War  of  Colo 
nial  times.  All  the  country  west  of  the  Delaware,  as 
far  up  as  the  mouth  of  the  Lackawaxen  River,  was 
obtained  from  the  Indians  by  the  deception  of  this 
"  walk."  The  Indians  in  those  early  times  measured 
their  distances  by  "  days7  journeys,"  and  in  various 
treaties  with  the  white  men  transferred  tracts  of  land 
by  the  measurement  of  "days'  walks."  William  Penn 


MAKSHALL'S  WALK.  217 

had  bought  the  land  as  far  up  as  Makefield  and 
Wrightstown  in  Bucks  County,  and  after  his  death 
his  descendants,  Thomas  and  Richard  Penn,  became 
anxious  to  enlarge  the  purchase,  and  this  "walk" 
was  the  result.  After  a  good  deal  of  preliminary 
negotiation,  several  sachems  of  the  Lenni  Lenapes 
were  brought  to  Philadelphia,  and  on  August  25, 
1737,  made  a  treaty  ceding  additional  lands  begin 
ning  "  on  a  line  drawn  from  a  certain  spruce  tree  on 
the  river  Delaware  by  a  west-northwest  course  to 
Neshaminy  Creek ;  from  thence  back  into  the  woods 
as  far  as  a  man  can  go  in  a  day  and  a  half,  and 
bounded  in  the  west  by  Neshaminy  or  the  most 
westerly  branch  thereof,  so  far  as  the  said  branch 
doth  extend,  and  from  thence  by  a  line  to  the  utmost 
extent  of  the  day  and  a  half  7s  walk,  and  from  thence 
to  the  aforesaid  river  Delaware  j  and  so  down  the 
courses  of  the  river  to  the  first-mentioned  spruce 
tree.77  The  Indians  thought  this  "walk77  might 
cover  the  land  as  far  north  as  the  Lehigh,  but  there 
was  deliberate  deception  practiced.  An  erroneous  map 
was  exhibited  indicating  a  line  extending  about  as  far 
north  as  Bethlehem  on  the  Lehigh,  and  this  deceived 
the  Indians.  The  white  officials  had  previously  been 
quietly  going  over  the  ground  far  north  of  the  Lehigh, 
blazing  routes  by  marking  trees,  all  of  which  was 
carefully  concealed,  and  Marshall  and  others  had  been 
employed  on  these  "  trial  walks."  A  reward  of  five 
hundred  acres  of  land  was  promised  the  walkers. 


218     AMEEICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

Marshall  and  two  others,  Jennings  and  Yeates, 
were  selected  to  do  the  walking,  all  young  and  ath 
letic  hunters,  experienced  in  woodcraft  and  inured  to 
hardships.  The  walk  was  fixed  for  September  19th, 
under  charge  of  the  Sheriff,  and  before  sunrise  of 
that  day  a  large  number  of  people  gathered  at  the 
starting-point  at  Wrightstown,  a  few  miles  west  of 
the  Delaware.  An  obelisk  on  a  pile  of  boulders  now 
marks  the  spot  at  the  corner  of  the  Quaker  Burying 
Ground,  bearing  an  inscription,  "  To  the  Memory  of 
the  Lenni  Lenape  Indians,  ancient  owners  of  this  re 
gion,  these  stones  are  placed  at  this  spot,  the  starting- 
point  of  the  '  Indian  walk/  September  19,  1737." 
The  start  was  made  from  a  chestnut  tree,  three  In 
dians  afoot  accompanying  the  three  walkers,  while 
the  Sheriff,  surveyors  and  others,  carrying  provisions, 
bedding  and  liquors,  were  on  horseback.  Just  as  the 
sun  rose  above  the  horizon  at  six  o'clock  they  started. 
When  they  had  gone  about  two  miles,  Jennings  gave 
out.  They  halted  fifteen  minutes  for  dinner  at  noon, 
soon  afterwards  crossed  the  Lehigh  near  the  site  of 
Bethlehem,  turned  up  that  river,  and  at  fifteen  minutes 
past  six  in  the  evening,  completing  the  day's  journey 
of  twelve  hours  actual  travel,  the  Sheriff,  watch  in 
hand,  called  to  them,  as  they  were  mounting  a  little 
hill,  to  "pull  up."  Marshall,  thus  notified,  clasped  his 
arms  about  a  sapling  for  support,  saying  "  he  was 
almost  gone,  and  if  he  had  proceeded  a  few  poles 
farther  he  must  have  fallen."  Yeates  seemed  less 


MAESHALL'S  WALK.  219 

distressed.  The  Indians  were  dissatisfied  from  the 
outset,  claiming  the  walk  should  have  been  made  up 
the  river,  and  not  inland.  When  the  Lehigh  was 
crossed,  early  in  the  afternoon,  they  became  sullen, 
complaining  of  the  rapid  gait  of  the  walkers,  and  sev 
eral  times  protesting  against  their  running.  Before 
sunset  two  Indians  left,  saying  they  would  go  no 
farther,  that  the  walkers  would  pass  all  the  good 
land,  and  after  that  it  made  no  difference  how  far  or 
where  they  went.  The  third  Indian  continued  some 
distance,  when  he  lay  down  to  rest  and  could  go  no 
farther. 

The  halt  for  the  night  was  made  about  a  half-mile 
from  the  Indian  village  of  Hokendauqua,  a  name 
which  means  "  searching  for  land."  This  was  the 
village  of  Lappawinzoe,  one  of  the  sachems  who  had 
made  the  treaty.  The  rext  morning  was  rainy,  and 
messengers  were  sent  him  to  request  a  detail  of  In 
dians  to  accompany  the  walkers.  He  was  in  ugly 
humor  and  declined,  but  some  Indians  strolled  into 
camp  and  took  liquor,  and  Yeates  also  drank  rather 
freely.  The  horses  were  hunted  up,  and  the  second 
day's  start  made  along  the  Lehigh  Valley  at  eight 
o'clock,  some  of  the  Indians  accompanying  for  a  short 
distance  through  the  rain,  but  soon  leaving,  dissatis 
fied.  The  route  was  north-northwest  through  the 
woods,  Marshall  carrying  a  compass,  by  which  he 
held  his  course.  In  crossing  a  creek  at  the  base  of 
the  mountains,  Yeates,  who  had  become  very  lame 


220     AMEEICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

and  tired,  staggered  and  fell,  but  Marshall  pushed 
on,  followed  by  two  of  the  party  on  horseback.  At 
two  o'clock  the  "  walk "  ended  on  the  north  side  of 
the  Pocono  or  Broad  Mountain,  not  far  from  the 
present  site  of  Mauch  Chunk.  The  distance  "  walked" 
in  eighteen  hours  was  about  sixty-eight  miles,  a 
remarkable  performance,  considering  the  condition 
of  the  country.  The  terminus  of  the  "walk" 
was  marked  by  placing  stones  in  the  forks  of  five 
trees,  and  the  surveyors  then  proceeded  to  com 
plete  the  work  by  marking  the  line  of  northern 
limit  of  the  tract  across  to  the  Delaware  River.  This 
was  done,  not  by  taking  the  shortest  route  to  the 
river,  but  by  running  a  line  at  right  angles  with  the 
general  direction  of  the  "  walk ;"  and  after  four  days' 
progress,  practically  parallel  to  the  Delaware,  through 
what  was  then  described  as  a  (( barren  mountainous 
region,"  the  surveyors  reached  the  river,  in  the  upper 
part  of  Pike  County,  near  the  mouth  of  Shohola 
Creek,  just  below  the  Lackawaxen. 

The  Indians  were  loud  in  their  complaints  of  the 
greediness  shown  in  this  walk,  and  particularly  of  the 
carrying  of  the  surveyors'  line  so  far  to  the  north 
ward,  which  none  of  them  had  anticipated.  Marshall 
was  told  by  one  old  Indian,  subsequently,  "  No  sit 
down  to  smoke — no  shoot  squirrel ;  but  lun,  lun,  lun, 
all  day  long."  Lappawinzoe,  thoroughly  disgusted, 
said,  "  Next  May  we  will  go  to  Philadelphia,  each 
one  with  a  buckskin,  repay  the  presents,  and  take 


MARSHALL'S  WALK.  221 

the  lands  back  again."  The  lands,  however,  were 
sold  to  speculators,  so  this  was  not  practicable,  and 
when  the  new  owners  sought  to  occupy  them,  the 
Indians  refused  to  vacate.  This  provoked  disputes 
over  a  half-million  acres,  a  vast  domain.  The  Penns, 
to  defend  their  position,  afterwards  repudiated  the 
surveyors,  and  they  never  fulfilled  their  promise  to 
give  Marshall  five  hundred  acres.  This  did  not 
mend  matters,  however,  and  the  Lenni  Lenape  In 
dians7  attitude  became  constantly  more  threatening, 
until  the  scared  Proprietary  invited  the  intervention 
of  their  hereditary  enemies,  the  Iroquois  Confedera 
tion,  or  Six  Nations.  In  1742  two  hundred  and 
thirty  leading  Iroquois  were  brought  to  Philadelphia, 
and  the  dispute  submitted  to  their  arbitration.  They 
sided  with  the  Proprietary,  and  the  Lenni  Lenapes 
reluctantly  withdrew  to  the  Wyoming  Valley,  part 
going  as  far  west  as  Ohio.  But  they  thirsted  for  re 
venge,  and  when  the  French  began  attacking  the 
frontier  settlements,  these  Indians  became  willing 
allies,  making  many  raids  and  wreaking  terrible  ven 
geance  upon  the  innocent  frontiersmen  throughout 
Pennsylvania.  Marshall,  who  never  got  his  reward, 
removed  his  cabin  farther  up  the  Delaware,  above 
the  mouth  of  the  Lehigh.  The  Indians  always  pur 
sued  him,  as  an  arch-conspirator,  for  a  special  ven 
geance.  They  attacked  his  cabin,  killing  his  wife 
and  wounding  a  daughter,  he  escaping  by  being  ab 
sent.  They  made  a  second  attack,  and  killed  a  son. 


222     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

His  whole  life  was  embittered  by  these  murders,  and 
he  lost  no  opportunity  for  retaliation,  removing,  for 
greater  safety,  to  an  island  in  the  river.  They  pur 
sued  him  for  forty  years,  a  party  of  Indians,  during 
the  Revolution  in  1777,  coming  all  the  way  from 
Ohio  to  kill  him,  but  he  eluded  them  and  escaped. 
His  closing  years,  however,  were  passed  peacefully, 
and  he  died  at  the  age  of  ninety  at  his  island  home 
in  the  Delaware. 

THE  NARROWS  AND  THE  FORKS. 

The  Tohickon  Creek,  the  chief  stream  of  Bucks 
County,  flows  into  the  Delaware  at  Point  Pleasant, 
its  Indian  name  of  Tohick-hanne  meaning  "the 
stream  crossed  by  a  drift-wood  bridge."  Here  in 
the  river  are  many  rapids  or  "  rifts,"  some  having 
been  given  curious  names  by  the  early  raftsmen  who 
used  to  "shoot"  them — such  as  the  "Buck  Tail 
rift,"  the  "Cut  Bite  rift,"  the  "Man-of-War  rift," 
the  "Ground  Hog  rift,"  and  the  "Old  Sow  rift." 
The  river  makes  many  sweeping  curves  in  passing 
through  the  gorges,  and  it  displays  the  Nockamixon 
Rocks  or  "  Pennsylvania  Palisades,"  a  series  of  about 
three  miles  of  beetling  crags,  of  rich  red  and  brown 
sandstone,  rising  four  hundred  feet,  almost  perpen 
dicularly,  and  making  a  grand  gorge  known  as  the 
Narrows.  The  ridge  which  the  river  thus  bisects  is 
known  as  Rock  Hill  in  Pennsylvania,  and  across  in 
New  Jersey  stretches  away  to  the  northeast  as  the 


THE  NAKKOWS  AND  THE  FOKKS.     223 

Musconetcong  Mountain.  Above,  the  Musconetcong 
River,  the  Indian  "  rapid  runner,"  flows  in  at  Rei- 
gelsville,  a  town  on  both  sides  of  the  Delaware. 
This  was  the  Indian  village  of  Pechequeolin  in  the 
early  eighteenth  century,  where  iron  works,  the  first 
on  the  Delaware,  were  started  in  1727,  famous  for 
making  the  "Franklin"  and  "Adam  and  Eve" 
stoves  that  were  so  popular  among  our  ancestors,  the 
latter  bearing  in  bold  relief  a  striking  representation 
of  our  first  parents  in  close  consultation  with  the 
serpent.  Just  above,  the  Delaware  comes  out 
through  the  massive  gorge  of  the  Durham  Hills  or 
South  Mountain,  north  of  which  the  Lehigh  River 
flows  in  from  the  southwest  amid  iron  mills  and  slag 
heaps,  with  numerous  bridges  bringing  the  various 
Lehigh  coal  railways  across  from  Easton  to  Phillips- 
burg.  This  is  the  confluence  with  the  Lehigh, 
known  in  early  times  as  the  "  Forks  of  the  Dela 
ware."  To  this  place  the  Lenni  Lenapes  often  came 
to  treat  and  trade  with  the  Penns,  and  a  town  was 
founded  there  when  John  Penn  was  the  Proprietor. 
He  was  then  a  newly -married  man,  and  had  courted 
his  bride,  a  daughter  of  Lord  Pomfret,  at  her  father's 
English  country-house  of  Easton  in  Northamptonshire. 
So  the  new  town  was  called  Easton  and  the  county 
Northampton,  at  the  junction  of  the  Delaware  with 
the  Indian  Lechwiechink,  signifying  "  where  there 
are  forks."  This  name  was  shortened  to  Lecha,  and 
afterwards  became  the  Lehigh.  The  two  towns  lit- 


224     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

erally  hang  upon  the  hillsides,  Mount  Parnassus 
looking  down  upon  Phillipsburg,  named  after  the  old 
chief  Phillip,  who  had  the  original  village  there, 
while  Easton  is  compressed  between  the  South  Moun 
tain  and  the  long  ridge  of  Chestnut  Hill,  rising  seven 
hundred  feet,  where  the  Paxinosa  Inn  recalls  the 
sturdy  Paxanose,  the  last  of  the  Shawnee  kings  who 
lived  east  of  the  Alleghenies.  Through  these  towns 
and  across  the  bridges  spanning  the  Delaware  roll 
constant  processions  of  coal  trains  bringing  the  an 
thracite  out  from  the  Lehigh  and  Wyoming  coal 
fields  to  market. 

Easton  dates  from  1737  and  has  about  fifteen 
thousand  people,  but  its  growth  did  not  come  until 
the  coal  trade  was  developed.  The  Lehigh  Canal 
started  this,  and  upon  it  Asa  Packer  was  a  boat 
man  before  the  railway  era,  and  carried  goods  for 
the  industrious  Frenchman,  Ario  Pardee,  who  then 
had  a  mill  and  store  at  Hazleton,  back  in  the  inte 
rior.  These  were  the  two  leaders  in  developing  the 
Lehigh  coal  trade.  The  chief  institution  of  Easton 
is  Lafayette  College,  a  Presbyterian  foundation,  its 
main  building  being  Pardee  Hall,  a  gift  of  Ario 
Pardee.  It  is  largely  a  school  of  the  mine,  and  is 
devoted  to  that  branch  of  scientific  research.  Here 
often  came  the  famous  Teedyuscung,  the  eloquent 
sachem  of  the  Lenni  Lenapes,  who,  in  the  councils 
at  the  "  Forks,"  pleaded  for  his  people's  rights.  The 
last  remnant  of  his  tribe,  having  been  pressed  far- 


THE  NAKKOWS  AND  THE  FOKKS.  225 

ther  and  farther  towards  the  setting  sun,  now  live  as 
the  "Delaware  Indians"  out  in  Oklahoma,  there 
being  barely  ninety  of  them,  where  Hon.  Charles 
Journey  cake,  at  last  advices,  was  the  "  King  of  the 
Delawares,"  the  successor  of  Teedyuscung  and  of 
St.  Tammany.  Phillipsburg  was  originally  settled  by 
Dutch,  and  its  prosperity  was  based  chiefly  on  the 
Morris  Canal,  which  crossed  New  Jersey  through 
Newark  to  New  York  harbor,  a  work  since  aban 
doned  for  transportation  purposes.  It  was  a  wonder 
ful  canal  in  its  day,  crossing  mountain  ranges  of  nine 
hundred  feet.  This  was  made  possible  by  the  high 
elevation  of  Lake  Hopatcong,  which  furnished  most 
of  the  water  for  the  levels.  While  some  of  the  ele 
vations  were  overcome  by  locks,  the  greater  ones 
were  mounted  by  inclined  planes  up  which  the  boats 
were  drawn,  the  machinery  of  the  planes  being 
worked  by  water-power  taken  from  the  higher  canal 
levels.  Its  chief  usefulness  now  is  the  supply  of 
water  to  Newark,  the  descent  from  Lake  Hopatcong  on 
that  side  being  nine  hundred  and  fourteen  feet.  This 
beautiful  lake,  supplied  with  the  purest  spring  water, 
is  nine  miles  long  and  about  four  miles  wide,  dotted 
with  islands,  its  rock-bound  shores  encompassed  by 
surrounding  mountains  giving  charming  scenery. 
Small  steamboats  navigate  it,  and  the  name  Hopatcong 
means  "  Stone  over  the  Water,"  referring  to  an  arti 
ficial  causeway  of  stone  the  Indians  had,  connecting 
with  one  of  the  islands,  but  which  is  now  submerged. 
VOL.  I.  —15 


226     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 


BETHLEHEM    AND    THE    MORAVIANS. 

The  Lehigh  Eiver  flows  out  of  the  AUeghenies 
through  a  deep  and  tortuous  valley  which  rends  the 
mountain  ridges  until  it  strikes  against  the  South 
Mountain  range,  here  called  the  Durham  Hills,  and 
then  turns  northeast  along  its  base  to  the  Delaware. 
At  this  bend  the  Saucon  Creek  comes  in  from  the 
south  and  the  Monocacy  Creek  from  the  north,  and 
here,  twelve  miles  from  Easton,  is  Bethlehem.  This 
manufacturing  town  of  twenty  thousand  population 
is  one  of  the  noted  places  of  the  Lehigh  Valley.  A 
large  part  of  the  lowlands  along  the  river  are  occu 
pied  by  the  extensive  works  of  the  Bethlehem  Steel 
Company,  where  the  big  guns,  armor  and  crank 
shafts  are  made  for  the  navy,  while  on  the  slopes  of 
the  South  Mountain  are  the  noble  buildings  of  the 
Lehigh  University,  the  munificent  benefaction  of 
Asa  Packer,  supporting  four  hundred  students  of  the 
technical  studies  developing  mining  and  railways. 
On  the  hill  slopes  of  the  northern  river  bank  is  the 
original  Moravian  town,  oddly  built  of  bricks  and 
stone,  with  a  steep  slate  roof  on  nearly  every  house. 
It  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  the  most  important  of 
the  settlements  in  America  of  the  refugee  followers 
of  John  Huss,  the  "  Congregation  of  the  United 
Brethren,"  and  for  a  century  was  under  its  absolute 
government.  In  the  winter  of  1740  the  first  trees 
were  cut  down  that  formed  the  log  hut  which  was  the 


BETHLEHEM  AND  THE  MOKAVIANS.         227 

first  house  on  this  part  of  the  Lehigh.  Count  Zin- 
zendorf,  their  leader,  arrived  from  Moravia,  with  his 
young  daughter  Benigna,  before  the  second  house 
was  built,  and  celebrated  with  the  settlers  the  Christ 
mas  Eve  of  1741.  They  had  called  the  place  Beth- 
Lechem,  "the  house  upon  the  Lehigh,"  but  it  is 
related  that  towards  midnight  on  this  occasion  Zin- 
zendorf,  becoming  deeply  moved,  seized  a  blazing 
torch  and  earnestly  sang  a  German  hymn : 

"Not  Jerusalem — lowly  Bethlehem 
'Twas  that  gave  us  Christ  to  save  us." 

Thus  the  young  settlement  got  its  name.  Receiv- 
ing  large  accessions  by  immigration,  it  soon  grew 
into  activity,  and  outstripping  Easton,  became  the 
commercial  depot  of  the  Upper  Delaware  and  the 
Lehigh,  sending  missionaries  among  the  Indians,  and 
during  the  Revolution  was  a  busy  manufacturing 
town.  For  the  first  thirty  years  it  was  a  pure  "  com 
mune,"  the  church  elders  regulating  the  labor  of  all 
the  people,  and  afterwards,  until  1844,  the  church 
council  of  the  "  Congregation  "  ruled  everything,  this 
exclusive  system  being  then  abandoned.  Proceeding 
up  a  winding  highway  from  the  river,  the  old  "  Mo 
ravian  Sun  Inn  "  is  passed,  the  building,  dating  from 
1758,  being  modernized ;  and  mounting  the  higher 
hill  above  the  Main  Street,  the  visitor  soon  gets  into 
the  heart  of  the  original  Moravian  Colony,  among  the 
ancient  and  spacious  hip-roofed,  slate-covered  stone 


228     AMERICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

houses,  with  their  ponderous  gables.  Though  dwelling 
in  communism,  the  Moravians  strictly  separated  the 
sexes  in  house,  street,  church  and  graveyard,  taking 
good  care  of  the  lone  females,  whether  maidens  or 
widows.  Here  are  the  "  Widows7  House  "  and  the 
"Single  Sisters'  House,"  quaintly  attractive  with 
their  broad  oaken  stairways,  diminutive  windows, 
stout  furniture  and  sun-dials,  tiled  and  flagged  pave 
ments,  low  ceilings,  steep  roofs  and  odd  gables.  The 
"  Sisters'  House  "  was  built  in  1742.  The  "  Congre 
gation  House  "  and  "  Theological  Seminary  "  are  also 
here ;  and,  best  known  of  all,  the  Moravian  "  Young 
Ladies7  Seminary,"  an  extensive  and  widely  cele 
brated  institution,  dating  from  1749,  whose  educa 
tional  methods  are  those  founded  by  the  noted  John 
Amos  Cominenius,  who  flourished  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  whose  life-size  portrait  bust  is  sacredly 
preserved  in  the  school,  as  is  also  the  old  sun-dial 
of  1748  on  the  southern  front  of  one  of  the  buildings. 
The  Moravian  Church,  a  large  square  building, 
fronts  the  Main  Street,  and  here  are  held  the  great 
festivals  at  Christmas  and  Easter  which  bring  many 
visitors  to  Bethlehem.  Its  most  interesting  adjunct  is 
the  "  Dead  House  "  alongside,  a  small  pointed  gothic 
steep-roofed  building,  which  is  used  whenever  a  mem 
ber  dies.  The  public  announcement  of  the  death  is 
made  at  sunrise  from  the  church  cupola  by  the  "trom 
bone  choir,"  who  go  up  there  and  vigorously  blow 
their  horns,  one  standing  facing  each  of  the  four 


BETHLEHEM  AND  THE  MOEAVIANS.          229 

points  of  the  compass.  The  funeral  services  are  held 
in  the  church,  but  the  corpse  is  not  taken  there,  it 
being  deposited  in  the  "Dead  House,"  and  guarded  by 
the  pall-bearers  during  the  ceremony.  This  ended, 
a  procession  solemnly  marches  farther  up  the  hill, 
led  by  the  trombones,  playing  a  dirge,  escorting  the 
corpse  and  mourners  to  the  ancient  graveyard.  Here 
are  the  graves  of  the  faithful,  resting  beneath  grand 
old  trees,  all  the  men  on  one  side  of  the  central  path 
and  the  women  on  the  other.  There  are  no  monu 
ments  or  family  lots,  but  the  graves  stretch  across 
the  cemetery  in  long  rows,  each  row  being  completed 
before  another  is  begun,  the  latest  corpse,  without 
reference  to  relationship,  being  laid  alongside  the 
last  interred,  so  that  the  row  of  graves  shows  the 
chronological  succession  of  the  deaths.  All  are 
treated  alike,  the  dead  bishop  resting  alongside  the 
humblest  of  the  flock,  a  small  square  stone  being  laid 
upon  each  flattened  grave,  marked  with  name  and 
date  of  birth  and  death,  and  usually  a  number.  Only 
one  person — a  woman — has  any  sign  of  distinction 
above  the  others  in  this  unique  cemetery.  She  was 
Deaconess  Juliana  Nitschman,  wife  of  Bishop  John 
Nitschman,  who  died  in  1751,  greatly  beloved  by 
the  Congregation,  and  was  honored  by  being  given 
a  special  grave  in  the  path  in  the  centre  of  the 
yard,  between  the  men  and  the  women.  There 
are  some  fifty  graves  of  Indian  converts  in  the  early 
days,  among  them  "  Tschoop  of  the  Mohicans," 


230      AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

whom  Cooper,  the  novelist,  has  immortalized,  the 
brave  and  eloquent  father  of  his  hero  Uncas.  The 
record  of  the  conversion  of  the  famous  King  Tee- 
dyuscung  is  kept  in  the  Moravian  Congregation, 
and  his  exploits  are  frequently  described  in  their 
annals.  He  lived  on  the  meadow  land  down  by 
the  river,  having  gone  there  in  1730  from  near 
Trenton,  where  he  was  born  about  1700,  and  in  1742 
he  released  the  lands  at  Bethlehem  to  the  Moravians. 
He  was  impressed  by  the  persuasions  of  the  preachers, 
and  after  along  probation,  in  1750  was  baptized  under 
the  name  of  Gideon.  Bishop  Cammerhoff,  on  March 
12th,  made  an  entry  which,  translated,  reads,  "To-day 
I  baptized  Tatius  Kundt,  the  chief  among  sinners." 
He  was  made  Grand  Sachem  of  the  Lenni  Lenapes 
in  1754,  but  he  backslid  from  the  Church,  and  joined 
in  the  pillage  and  massacre  of  the  Colonial  wars.  He 
became  dissipated,  but  was  afterwards  reconciled  to 
the  whites  and  removed  to  Wyoming,  where  the  Iro- 
quois  in  1763  made  a  raid,  and  finding  him  in  a 
drunken  stupor  in  his  wigwam,  they  set  fire  to  it  and 
he  was  burnt  to  death. 

During  the  Revolution  the  Moravians  were  of 
great  use  to  the  army,  conducting  hospitals  at  Bethle 
hem  and  providing  supplies.  In  1778  the  "  Single 
Sisters  "  made  and  presented  to  Count  Pulaski  a  finely 
embroidered  silk  banner,  afterwards  carried  by  his 
regiment,  and  preserved  by  the  Maryland  Historical 
Society.  Longfellow  has  beautifully  enshrined  this 


MAUCH  CHUNK  AND  COAL  MINING.         231 

memory  in  his  "  Hymn  of  the  Moravian  Nuns  "  at  its 
consecration : 

1  'When  the  dying  flame  of  day 
Through  the  chancel  shot  its  ray, 
Far  the  glimmering  tapers  shed 
Faint  light  on  the  cowled  head, 
And  the  censer  burning  swung 
Where  before  the  altar  hung 
That  proud  banner,  which,  with  prayer, 
Had  been  consecrated  there  ; 
And  the  nuns'  sweet  hymn  was  heard  the  while 
Sung  low  in  the  dim  mysterious  aisle — 

"  *  Take  thy  banner.     May  it  wave 
Proudly  o'er  the  good  and  brave, 
When  the  battle's  distant  wail 
Breaks  the  Sabbath  of  our  vale ; 
When  the  clarion's  music  thrills 
To  the  heart  of  these  lone  hills  ; 
When  the  spear  in  conflict  shakes, 
And  the  strong  lance,  quivering,  breaks.'  " 

MAUCH  CHUNK  AND   COAL   MINING. 

The  Lehigh  above  Bethlehem  comes  through  the 
clear-cut  "  Lehigh  Gap "  in  the  Blue  Ridge,  which 
stretches  off  to  the  northeast,  where  are  two  other 
notches,  one  cut  partly  down  and  the  other  deeply 
cut — the  first  being  the  "  Wind  Gap  "  and  the  other 
the  "  Delaware  Water  Gap."  The  Indians  used  to 
tell  the  early  pioneers  that  the  wind  came  through 
the  one  and  the  water  through  the  other.  The  Jor 
dan  Creek  flows  out  from  the  South  Mountain,  and  in 
the  valley  is  Allentown,  the  chief  city  of  the  Lehigh, 


232     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

having  thirty  thousand  people,  and  numerous  facto 
ries  and  breweries.  Here  is  the  township  of  Macun- 
gie,  which  is  Indian  for  "the  feeding-place  of  bears." 
It  was  to  Allentown,  when  the  British  captured  Phila 
delphia,  that  in  1777  were  hastily  taken  the  Liberty 
Bell  and  the  chimes  of  Christ  Church  and  St.  Peter's 
Church,  being  concealed  beneath  the  floor  of  old  Zion 
Church  to  prevent  their  capture  and  confiscation. 
Above  Allentown  the  Lehigh  traverses  the  valley  be 
tween  the  South  Mountain  and  the  Blue  Ridge,  pass 
ing  Catasauqua,  "the  thirsty  land,"  and  Hokendauqua, 
seats  of  extensive  iron  manufacture,  the  first  of  these 
establishments  on  the  Lehigh,  founded  in  1839  by 
David  Thomas,  who  came  out  from  Wales  for  the 
purpose.  Then  we  get  among  the  slate  factories  in 
crossing  the  vast  slate  measures  that  adjoin  the  Blue 
Ridge,  and  go  quickly  through  the  deep  notch  in  the 
tall  and  here  very  narrow  ridge,  the  waters  foaming 
over  the  slaty  bed,  its  thin  layers  standing  up  in  long 
straight  lines  across  the  stream.  Beyond  is  another 
valley,  and  then  comes  the  wide-topped  range  known 
as  the  Broad  Mountain.  In  this  valley  was  Gauden- 
hutten,  where  the  Indian  trail,  known  as  the  "  War 
rior's  Path,"  crossed  the  Lehigh,  and  where  the  first 
Moravian  missionaries  from  Bethlehem  came  and 
built  a  church  and  converted  the  Indians.  It  was  the 
scene  of  one  of  the  terrible  massacres  of  the  Colonial 
wars.  Within  the  gorge  of  the  Broad  Mountain  is 
the  oddest  town  on  the  Lehigh,  Mauch  Chunk. 


MAUCH  CHUNK  AND  COAL  MINING.          233 

This  noted  coal  town  has  two  principal  streets — 
one  laid  along  the  front  of  a  mountain  wall  above  the 
river  bank,  and  the  other  at  right  angles,  stretching 
back  through  a  cleft  in  the  mountain.  Most  things 
are  set  on  edge  in  Mauch  Chunk,  and  the  man  who 
may  have  the  front  door  of  his  house  on  the  street 
often  goes  out  of  an  upper  story  into  the  back  yard, 
which  slopes  steeply  upward.  Mount  Pisgah  rises 
high  above,  crowned  with  the  chimneys  of  the  ma 
chine-house  of  an  inclined-plane  railway.  A  view 
from  it  discloses  a  novel  landscape  beneath,  the  rail 
roads,  canal,  river  and  front  street  all  being  com 
pressed  together  into  the  narrow  curving  gorge  which 
bends  around  Bear  Mountain,  the  u  Mauch  Chunk  " 
over  opposite.  The  red  sandstone  is  universal,  and 
the  chocolate-colored  roads  leading  out  of  town  are 
carved  into  the  mountain  walls.  Through  the  centre 
of  the  place  the  river  pours  over  a  canal  dam,  its 
roaring  mingled  with  the  noise  of  constantly  moving 
coal  trains.  The  curious  conical  Bear  Mountain, 
around  which  everything  curves,  rises  seven  hundred 
feet  high,  and  the  town,  which  has  about  four  thou 
sand  people,  rests  at  various  elevations,  wherever 
houses  can  get  room  to  stand — in  gullies  or  gorges, 
or  hanging  on  the  hillsides.  From  every  point  of 
view  rises  the  tall  and  quaintly  turreted  tower  of 
St.  Luke's  Episcopal  Church,  looking  like  an  ancient 
feudal  castle  of  the  Rhine,  which  was  built  as  a  me 
morial  of  Asa  Packer  by  his  widow  j  for  here  was 


234     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

his  home,  and  his  grave  is  in  the  cemetery  almost 
over  the  roof  of  his  house. 

At  Summit  Hill,  nine  miles  northwest  of  Mauch 
Chunk,  the  anthracite  coal  of  this  region  was  first 
discovered.  Philip  Ginter,  a  hunter,  found  it  while 
roaming  over  Sharp  Mountain  in  1791.  This  "  stone 
coal "  was  carried  down  to  Philadelphia  and  exhibited, 
and  a  company  was  formed,  taking  up  ten  thousand 
acres  on  the  mountain  and  opening  a  mine.  For 
thirty  years  they  had  disappointments,  as  nobody 
would  use  the  coal,  which  cost  about  $14  per  ton  to 
transport  to  Philadelphia.  To  cheapen  this,  efforts 
were  made  to  improve  the  navigation  of  the  Lehigh, 
out  of  which  grew  the  canal  which  was  the  early 
route  of  the  coal  to  that  city.  Asa  Packer  once  said 
that  in  1820  three  hundred  and  eighty-five  tons  went 
to  Philadelphia,  and  this  choked  the  market.  In 
1827,  when  the  mining  at  Summit  Hill  had  got  a 
good  start,  the  "  Switchback "  gravity  railroad  was 
built  to  bring  the  coal  out  from  the  mines  to  the  river 
at  Mauch  Chunk.  The  loaded  coal  cars  ran  by  their 
own  momentum  nine  miles  down  a  grade  of  about 
ninety  feet  to  the  mile.  To  get  the  cars  back,  they 
were  hauled  up  the  inclined  plane  on  Mount  Pisgah, 
then  run  by  gravity  six  miles  inland  to  Mount  Jeffer 
son,  where  they  were  hauled  up  a  second  plane,  and 
then  they  ran  three  miles  farther  by  gravity  to  the 
mines.  This  route  was  used  for  many  years,  but  was 
afterwards  superseded  by  another  railway,  and  now 


Mauch  Chunk 


MAUCH  CHUNK  AND  COAL  MINING.          235 

the  famous  "  Switchback "  is  a  summer  excursion 
route  for  tourists  who  delight  in  the  exhilarating 
rides  down  the  gravity  slopes.  At  Summit  Hill  and 
in  the  Panther  Creek  Valley,  a  large  output  of  coal  is 
mined  and  sent  through  a  railway  tunnel  to  the 
Lehigh,  and  there  is  at  Summit  Hill  a  burning  mine 
which  has  been  smouldering  more  than  a  half-cen 
tury.  Asa  Packer  developed  this  region,  while,  far 
ther  up  the  river,  branch  lines  come  in  from  the  Ma- 
hanoy  and  Hazleton  regions,  which  were  the  field  of 
operations  of  Ario  Pardee ;  and  the  two  went  hand 
in  hand  in  fostering  the  prosperity  of  the  Lehigh 
Valley. 

The  upper  waters  of  the  Lehigh  flow  through  a 
wild  canyon,  the  river  at  times  almost  doubling  upon 
itself  as  it  makes  sharp  bends  around  the  bold  prom 
ontories.  Enormous  hills  encompass  it  about,  the 
stream  often  flowing  through  the  bottom  with  the 
rush  and  foam  of  a  miniature  Niagara  rapids.  The 
canal,  abandoned  above  Mauch  Chunk,  was  destroyed 
by  a  freshet  many  years  ago,  but  the  amber-colored 
waters  still  pour  over  the  dilapidated  dams  and 
through  the  moss-grown  sluices.  There  are  log 
houses  for  the  lumbermen,  also  an  almost  obsolete 
industry,  and  finally  the  railways  abandon  the  di 
minutive  Lehigh  and  climb  over  the  desolate  Nesco- 
pec  Mountain,  to  go  through  the  Sugar  Notch  and 
down  the  other  side  into  the  Vale  of  Wyoming  and 
to  the  banks  of  the  Susquehanna.  Upon  the  eastern 


236     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

slopes  of  the  Nescopec  the  Lehigh  has  its  sources, 
gathering  the  tribute  of  many  small  streams  between 
this  ridge  and  Broad  Mountain. 

THE   VALE   OF  WYOMING. 

The  railroads  cross  the  height  of  land  between  the 
sources  of  the  Lehigh  and  the  affluents  of  the  Sus 
quehanna,  through  the  Sugar  Notch,  at  about  eigh 
teen  hundred  feet  elevation.  When  the  train  moves 
out  to  the  western  verge  of  Nescopec  Mountain 
there  suddenly  bursts  upon  the  gladdened  sight  the 
finest  scenic  view  in  Pennsylvania — over  the  fair 
Vale  of  Wyoming,  with  all  its  gorgeous  beauties  of 
towns  and  villages,  forests  and  farms,  under  the 
bright  sunlight,  and  having  laid  across  it  the  distant 
silver  streak  of  the  glinting  Susquehanna  River,  all 
spread  out  in  a  magnificent  picture  seen  from  an  ele 
vation  of  twelve  hundred  feet  above  the  river  level. 
For  nearly  twenty  miles  the  Susquehanna  can  be 
traced  through  the  long,  trough-like  valley,  from 
where  it  breaks  in  through  the  Lackawannock  Gap 
in  the  North  Mountain,  under  Campbell's  Ledge,  far 
to  the  northward,  away  down  south  to  where  it  passes 
out  the  narrow  gorge  at  Nanticoke  Gap.  The  long 
ridges  of  the  Nescopec  and  Moosic  Mountains  enclose 
the  valley  on  one  side,  and  over  on  the  other  are  the 
great  North  Mountain  or  Shawnee  range,  and  the 
higher  ridge  of  the  main  Allegheny  range  behind. 
In  the  distant  northeast  the  view  is  prolonged  up  the 


THE  VALE  OF  WYOMING.  237 

Lackawanna  Valley.  In  this  splendid  Wyoming 
Vale,  spread  out  like  a  map,  is  a  landscape  of  rich 
agriculture,  dotted  over  with  towns  and  villages,  coal- 
breakers  and  huge  culm-piles,  the  long  snake-like 
streaks  of  railways  crossing  the  scene  bearing  their 
little  puffing  engines.  It  looks  much  like  what  one 
sees  out  of  a  balloon.  Here  is  the  village  of  Nanti- 
coke,  then  Plymouth,  then  the  spreading  city  of 
Wilkesbarre,  and,  far  beyond,  the  foliage-hidden 
houses  of  Pittston,  near  the  gorge  where  the  river 
flows  in.  Between  them  all  are  clusters  of  villages 
and  black  coal  heaps,  with  myriads  of  the  little  green 
and  brown  fields,  making  distant  farms.  The  river 
reaches  sparkle  in  the  light  as  the  long  shadows  are 
cast  from  the  mountains,  and  the  train  runs  rapidly 
down  the  mountain  side  and  across  the  valley  to  its 
chief  city,  Wilkesbarre. 

When  the  broad  and  shallow  and  rock-strewn 
river  Susquehanna,  on  its  way  down  from  Otsego 
Lake  in  New  York  to  the  Chesapeake,  breaks  through 
the  North  Mountain,  its  valley  expands  to  three  or 
four  miles  in  width,  making  a  fertile  region  between 
the  high  enclosing  ridges  which  the  Indians  called 
Maughwauwama,  or  the  "  extensive  flat  plains." 
This  sonorous  name  underwent  many  changes,  finally 
becoming  known  as  Wyoming.  Luzerne  County  is 
the  lower  and  Lackawanna  County  the  upper  portion 
of  this  noted  valley,  which  is  the  greatest  anthracite 
coal-field  in  the  world.  These  Wyoming  coal  meas- 


238     AMEEICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCEIPTIVE. 

ures  underlie  seventy-seven  square  miles,  having 
veins  averaging  eighty  feet  in  thickness,  and  about 
eighty  thousand  tons  to  the  acre,  the  aggregate  de 
posit  of  coal  being  estimated  to  exceed  two  thousand 
millions  of  tons.  The  large  population  and  enor 
mous  production  have  caused  all  the  railways  to  send 
in  branches  to  tap  its  lucrative  traffic,  so  that  it  is  the 
best-served  region  in  Pennsylvania.  It  has  two 
large  cities — Wilkesbarre,  in  Luzerne,  and  Scranton, 
in  Lackawanna.  Wilkesbarre  is  on  the  eastern  Sus- 
quehanna  river  bank,  a  town  of  forty  thousand 
people,  named  after  the  two  English  champions  of 
American  Colonial  rights.  It  covers  much  surface 
in  the  centre  of  the  valley,  with  suburbs  spreading 
far  up  the  mountain  sides.  But  from  almost  every 
point  of  view  in  the  city  the  outlook  is  over  black 
culm-heaps  or  coal-breakers  or  at  rows  of  coal  cars, 
so  that  there  is  a  monotony  in  the  steady  reminder 
of  the  source  of  their  riches,  the  omnipresent  anthra 
cite.  About  twelve  miles  northwest  of  Wilkesbarre, 
up  in  the  North  Mountain  range,  is  the  largest  lake 
in  Pennsylvania — Harvey's  Lake — elevated  nearly 
thirteen  hundred  feet  and  covering  about  two  square 
miles.  It  is  named  after  one  of  the  early  pioneers 
from  Connecticut,  and  its  outflow  comes  down  to  the 
Susquehanna  near  Nanticoke  Gap.  Its  pleasant 
shores  are  a  favorite  resort  of  the  Wilkesbarre  people. 
The  flourishing  city  of  Scranton  is  about  nineteen 
miles  north  of  Wilkesbarre,  in  the  Lackawanna  Val- 


THE  VALE  OF  WYOMING.  239 

ley.  It  has  grown  to  a  population  of  a  hundred  thou 
sand  people,  and  is  picturesquely  situated  among  the 
coal  mines,  with  a  higher  elevation  than  Wilkesbarre, 
being  nearly  eleven  hundred  feet  above  tide,  at  the 
confluence  of  the  Roaring  Brook  with  the  Lacka- 
wanna  River ;  and  it  has  extensive  iron  industries, 
being  the  chief  city  of  northeastern  Pennsylvania. 
The  Wyoming  and  Lackawanna  coal  pits,  while  the 
greatest  anthracite  producers,  are  not  generally  so 
deep  as  those  of  the  Lehigh  or  Schuylkill  regions. 
The  deepest  Pennsylvania  shaft  goes  down  seventeen 
hundred  feet  near  Pottsville.  Some  of  the  Wyoming 
galleries  run  a  mile  and  a  half  underground  from  the 
shaft,  following  the  coal  veins  underneath  and  far 
beyond  the  Susquehanna. 

This  noted  Wyoming  Vale,  in  the  early  history 
of  the  Pennsylvania  frontier,  was  bought  from 
the  Iroquois  Indians,  the  "Six  Nations,"  by  an 
association  of  pioneer  settlers  from  Connecticut. 
Good  management,  due  largely  to  the  judicious 
methods  of  the  early  missionaries,  kept  them  at 
peace  with  the  Indians.  Count  Zinzendorf,  with  a 
companion,  came  up  from  Bethlehem  in  1742,  before 
the  Connecticut  purchase,  and  founded  a  Moravian 
mission  among  the  Shawnees  in  the  valley.  It  is 
said  that  they  were  suspicious  of  European  rapacity 
and  plotted  his  assassination,  and  the  historian  re 
lates  that  the  Count  was  alone  in  his  tent,  reclining 
upon  a  bundle  of  dry  weeds,  destined  for  his  bed,  and 


240     AMEKICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCKIPTIVK 

engaged  in  writing  or  in  devout  meditation,  when  the 
assassins  crept  stealthily  up.  A  blanket-curtain 
formed  the  door,  and,  gently  raising  the  corner,  the 
Indians  had  a  full  view  of  the  patriarch,  with  the 
calmness  of  a  saint  upon  his  benignant  features.  They 
were  struck  with  awe.  But  this  was  not  all.  The 
night  was  cool,  and  he  had  kindled  a  small  fire.  The 
historian  continues :  "  Warmed  by  the  flame,  a 
large  rattlesnake  had  crept  from  its  covert,  and,  ap 
proaching  the  fire  for  its  greater  enjoyment,  glided 
harmlessly  over  one  of  the  legs  of  the  holy  man, 
whose  thoughts  at  the  moment  were  not  occupied 
upon  the  grovelling  things  of  earth.  He  perceived 
not  the  serpent,  but  the  Indians,  with  breathless  at 
tention,  had  observed  the  whole  movement  of  the 
poisonous  reptile ;  and  as  they  gazed  upon  the  aspect 
and  attitude  of  the  Count,  their  enmity  was  imme 
diately  changed  to  reverence  ;  and  in  the  belief  that 
their  intended  victim  enjoyed  the  special  protection 
of  the  Great  Spirit,  they  desisted  from  their  bloody 
purpose  and  retired.  Thenceforward  the  Count  was 
regarded  by  the  Indians  with  the  most  profound  ven 
eration." 

When  the  Revolution  came,  the  settlement  was  a 
thriving  agricultural  colony  of  about  two  thousand 
people,  scattered  over  the  valley,  with  a  village  on 
the  river  shore  just  above  the  present  site  of  Wilkes- 
barre.  In  June,  1778,  a  force  of  British  troops, 
Tories  and  Indians  entered  the  valley  and  attacked 


THE  VALE  OF  WYOMING.  241 

them,  and  on  July  3d  the  terrible  Wyoming  massacre 
followed,  in  which  the  British  officers  were  unable  to 
set  any  bounds  to  the  atrocious  butchery  by  their 
savage  allies,  who  killed  about  three  hundred  men, 
women  and  children.  The  poet  Campbell  has  painted 
the  previous  pastoral  scene  of  happiness  and  content  in 
"  Gertrude  of  Wyoming/7  and  told  the  tale  of  atrocity 
perpetrated  by  the  savages,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
horrible  tragedies  of  that  great  war.  This  poem  tells 

of 

"  A  stoic  of  the  woods— a  man  without  a  tear." 

Beside  the  river  below  Pittston  and  near  the  vil 
lage  of  Wyoming,  having  the  great  North  Mountain 
for  a  background,  was  Fort  Forty,  the  scene  of  the 
chief  atrocities  of  the  massacre,  the  site  being  now 
marked  by  a  granite  obelisk.  Here  is  the  burial- 
place  of  the  remains  of  the  slaughtered.  "  Queen 
Esther's  Rock  n  is  pointed  out,  where  the  half-breed 
Queen  of  the  Senecas,  to  avenge  the  death  of  her 
son,  is  said  to  have  herself  tomahawked  fourteen  de 
fenceless  prisoners.  Most  of  the  survivors  fled  after 
this  horror,  and  they  did  not  return  to  the  valley 
until  long  after  peace  was  restored,  when  the  infant 
settlement  was  renewed  in  the  founding  of  Wilkes- 
barre.  Far  up  on  the  side  of  the  grand  peak  guard 
ing  the  northern  portal  of  the  Lackawannock  Gap  is 
the  broad  shelf  of  rock  which  embalms  in  "  Camp 
bell's  Ledge  "  the  memory  of  the  great  English  poet 
who  has  so  graphically  told  the  harrowing  tale. 
VOL.  I.— 16 


242     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 


THE   TERMINAL   MORAINE. 

The  Delaware  River  above  the  "  Forks/7  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Lehigh,  breaks  through  a  narrow  notch 
in  the  Chestnut  Hill  ridge  known  as  the  "Little 
Water  Gap/7  while  farther  to  the  northeast  the  ridge 
continues  through  New  Jersey  as  the  Jenny  Jump 
Mountain.  Above  this  is  the  noted  "Foul  Rift/7 
where  the  river  channel  is  filled  with  boulders  and 
rocks  of  all  sizes  and  shapes,  the  dread  of  the  rafts 
men  who  gave  it  the  name,  for  many  a  raft  has  been 
wrecked  there.  But  while  this  place  is  shunned  by 
the  navigator,  it  has  an  absorbing  attraction  for  the 
geologist.  This  was  where  the  great  "  Terminal 
Moraine 77  of  the  glacial  epoch  crossed  the  Delaware, 
recalling  the  "  Ice  Age/7  to  which  reference  has 
already  been  made.  When  the  vast  Greenland  ice 
cap  crept  down  so  as  to  overspread  northeastern 
America  and  northwestern  Europe  and  filled  the  in 
tervening  Atlantic  bed,  it  broke  off  many  rocky  frag 
ments  in  its  southward  advance,  scratching  the  sur 
faces  of  the  ledges,  and  the  fragments  held  in  its 
grip,  with  striated  lines  and  grooves  in  the  direction 
of  its  movement.  The  ice  steadily  flowed  southward, 
coming  over  mountain  and  valley  alike  in  a  continu 
ous  sheet,  enveloping  the  ocean  and  adjacent  con 
tinents,  and  finally  halted  on  the  Delaware  about 
sixty  miles  north  of  Philadelphia.  Its  southern 
verge  spread  across  America  from  Alaska  to  St. 


THE  TEKMINAL  MOKAINE.  243 

Louis,  and  thence  to  the  Atlantic  on  the  northern 
coast  of  New  Jersey.  Its  southern  boundary  entered 
Western  Pennsylvania  near  Beaver,  passing  north 
east  to  the  New  York  line  j  then  turning  southeast,  it 
crossed  the  Lehigh  about  ten  miles  northwest  of 
Mauch  Chunk  and  the  Delaware  just  below  Belvi- 
dere.  It  crossed  New  Jersey  to  Staten  Island,  trav 
ersed  the  length  of  Long  Island,  and  passed  out  to 
sea,  appearing  on  Block  Island,  Cape  Cod,  St. 
George's  Bank  and  Sable  Island  Shoal,  south  of  Nova 
Scotia.  The  boundary  of  the  glacier  west  of  the 
"  Foul  Rift "  on  the  Delaware  appears  as  a  range  of 
low  gravel  hills,  which  are  piled  upon  the  slate  hills 
of  Northampton  farther  west,  and  reach  the  base  of 
the  Blue  Ridge  three  miles  east  of  the  "  Wind  Gap." 
The  boundary  here  mounted  and  crossed  the  Kitta- 
tinny  ridge  sixteen  hundred  feet  high,  being  well 
shown  upon  its  summit,  and  then  passed  over  the  in 
tervening  valley  to  the  Broad  Mountain  or  Pocono 
range.  The  Delaware  at  the  "Foul  Rift"  is  ele 
vated  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  tide  j  and 
where  the  glacier  boundary  crossed  the  mountains  in 
the  interior  it  was  at  about  twenty-six  hundred  feet 
elevation  on  the  highest  land  in  Potter  County,  the 
Continental  watershed. 

This  vast  glacier  was  so  thick  as  to  overtop  even 
Mount  Washington,  for  it  dropped  transported  boul 
ders  on  the  summit  of  that  highest  peak  in  New 
England.  Its  southern  edge  in  Pennsylvania  was  at 


244     AMEKICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

least  eight  hundred  feet  thick  in  solid  ice.  A  hun 
dred  miles  back  among  the  Catskills  it  was  thirty-one 
hundred  feet  thick,  and  two  hundred  miles  back  in 
northern  New  England  it  was  five  thousand  to  six 
thousand  feet  thick,  being  still  thicker  farther  north 
ward.  The  Pocono  Knob,  near  Stroudsburg,  in  Pike 
County,  Pennsylvania,  out-topped  the  glacier,  and 
jutted  out  almost  like  an  island  surrounded  by  ice. 
The  late  Professor  H.  Carvill  Lewis,  who  closely 
studied  this  glacier,  has  described  how,  all  over  the 
country  which  it  covered,  it  dropped  what  is  known 
as  the  "  northern  drift,"  or  "  till,"  or  "  hardpan,"  in 
scattered  deposits  of  stones,  clay,  gravel  and  debris 
of  all  kinds,  brought  down  from  the  northward  as  the 
ice  moved  along,  and  irregularly  dumped  upon  the  sur 
face,  thickly  in  some  places  and  thinly  in  others,  with 
many  boulders,  some  of  enormous  size.  It  abraded 
all  the  rock  surfaces  crossed,  and  transported  and 
rounded  and  striated  the  fragments  torn  off  in  its  re 
sistless  passage.  The  line  of  farthest  southern  ad 
vance  of  the  ice  is  shown  by  the  "  Terminal  Mo 
raine,"  stretching  across  country,  which  put  the 
obstructions  into  the  "  Foul  Rift."  A  glacier  always 
pushes  up  at  its  foot  a  mound  of  material  composed 
of  fragments  of  rocks  of  all  shapes  and  sizes,  which 
the  ice  has  taken  up  at  various  points  along  its  flow 
and  carried  to  its  terminus,  thus  forming  the  moraine. 
This  "  Terminal  Moraine  "  has  been  traced  and  care 
fully  studied  for  four  hundred  miles  across  Pennsyl- 


THE  TERMINAL  MORAINE.  245 

vania,  showing  throughout  a  remarkable  accumula 
tion  of  drift  materials  and  boulders,  heaped  into 
irregular  hills  and  hollows  over  a  strip  of  land  nearly 
a  mile  wide.  The  action  of  the  Delaware  River  cur 
rents  at  the  "  Foul  Rift "  has  washed  out  the  finer 
materials  and  cobblestones,  leaving  only  the  larger 
boulders  and  rocks  to  perplex  the  navigator. 

Some  of  the  performances  of  this  great  glacier  in 
the  region  adjacent  to  the  Delaware  are  remarkable. 
It  has  carried  huge  granite  boulders  from  the  far 
north  and  planted  them  all  along  the  summit  of  the 
Kittatinny  where  it  crossed.  It  has  torn  out  big 
pieces  of  limestone,  some  of  them  thirty  feet  long, 
from  their  beds  in  Monroe  County,  north  of  this 
range,  carried  them  in  the  ice  more  than  a  thousand 
feet  up  its  steep  northern  face  and  over  the  summit, 
finally  dropping  them  on  the  south  side  in  the  mo 
raine  in  the  slate  valley  of  Northampton.  These  im 
mense  limestone  rocks  made  comparatively  short 
journeys,  but  one  ponderous  boulder  of  syenite  from 
the  Adirondacks  was  found  in  Northampton,  well 
rounded  and  dressed,  having  travelled  in  the  ice  at 
least  two  hundred  miles.  There  has  also  been  found 
a  "  glacial  groove  n  upon  the  rocks  of  the  Kittatinny 
near  the  Water  Gap,  where  some  ponderous  frag 
ment,  imbedded  in  the  ice,  as  it  moved  along  has 
gouged  out  a  great  scratch  six  feet  wide  and  seventy 
feet  in  length.  Although  this  ice  had  evidently  re 
sistless  power  in  its  slow  motion,  yet  it  seems  to  have 


246     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

had  small  influence  upon  the  topography  of  the 
country.  It  appears  to  have  merely  "  sand-papered" 
the  surfaces  of  the  rocks.  It  passed  bodily  across 
the  sharp  edges  of  the  upright  sandstone  strata  of 
the  Kittatinny,  yet  has  not  had  appreciable  effect  in 
cutting  the  ridge  down,  the  glaciated  portion  east  of 
the  tl  Wind  Gap  "  appearing  as  high  and  as  sharply 
defined  as  the  unglaciated  part  to  the  westward  of 
the  moraine.  The  glacier  made  many  lakes  north 
of  the  moraine,  due  to  the  "  kettle  holes  "  and  ob 
struction  of  streams  by  unequal  deposits  of  drift. 
It  is  inferred  in  the  estimates  of  the  duration  of  the 
glacier,  from  astronomical  data,  that  the  cold  period 
began  two  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  years  ago, 
the  greatest  cold  being  many  thousand  years  later. 
The  intense  cold  began  moderating  eighty  thousand 
years  ago,  but  the  sea  of  ice  remained  long  after 
wards,  and  steadily  diminished  under  the  increasing 
heat.  So  many  thousand  years  being  required  for 
melting,  there  are  data  inducing  the  belief  that  the  ice 
cap  did  not  retreat  from  this  part  of  the  country  back 
to  Greenland  until  within  ten  thousand  or  fifteen  thou 
sand  years  ago.  Then  came  the  floods  of  water  from 
the  melting  glacier,  and  it  is  significant  that  the  In 
dians  in  the  spacious  valley  northwest  of  the  Kittatinny 
called  that  fertile  region  the  "Minisink,"  meaning  "the 
waters  have  gone,"  indicating  their  legendary  memory 
of  the  floods  following  the  melting  and  retreat  of  the 
glacier  and  the  final  outflow  of  its  waters. 


THE  DELAWAKE  WATER  GAP.  247 

THE   DELAWARE  WATER   GAP. 

Belvidere,  the  "town  of  the  beautiful  view," 
nestles  upon  the  broad  terraces  under  the  Jersey 
ridges  at  the  mouth  of  Pequest  Creek,  and  looks  pret 
tily  out  upon  the  high  hills  and  distant  mountains 
across  the  Delaware.  Above  the  town,  the  river 
makes  a  great  bend  to  the  westward  in  rounding  the 
huge  and  almost  perpendicular  mass  of  Manunka 
Chunk  Mountain,  a  name  which  has  been  got  by  a 
process  of  gradual  evolution  from  its  Indian  title  of 
"  Penungauchung."  Here,  through  a  gorge  just 
above,  is  got  the  first  view  of  the  distant  Water 
Gap,  cleft  down  in  the  dark  blue  Kittatinny  ten 
miles  away.  Approaching  it  as  the  river  winds,  all 
the  views  have  this  great  Gap  for  the  gem  of  the 
landscape,  the  ponderous  wall  of  the  Kittatinny 
stretching  broadly  across  the  horizon  and  steadily 
rising  into  greater  prominence  as  it  comes  nearer. 

' '  I  lift  my  eyes  and  ye  are  ever  there, 
Wrapped  in  the  folds  of  the  imperial  air, 
And  crowned  with  the  gold  of  morn  or  evening  rare, 
O,  far  blue  hills." 

As  it  is  gradually  approached,  the  Gap  and  its  en 
closing  ridge  attain  enormous  proportions,  dwarfing 
the  smaller  hills,  among  which  the  narrow,  placid 
river  flows  below ;  and  it  is  realized  how  tame  are 
all  the  other  ridges  through  which  the  Delaware  has 
passed  compared  with  this  towering  Blue  Ridge, 


248     AMERICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

having  the  low-lying  Blockade  Mountain  just  behind, 
and  partly  closing  the  Gap.  Soon  we  reach  the  foot 
of  the  range,  and,  bending  with  the  river  suddenly 
to  the  left,  enter  the  Gap.  Scarcely  have  we  entered 
when  the  river,  which  has  been  swinging  to  the  left, 
bends  around  again  gradually  to  the  right,  and  in  a 
moment  we  are  through  the  gorge,  the  river  then 
circling  around  the  Blockade  Mountain,  which  has 
been  so  named  because  it  seems  always  stupidly  in 
the  way. 

The  Indians  called  the  Water  Gap  "  Pohoqualin," 
meaning  "  the  river  between  the  mountains."  The 
Delaware  flows  through  it  with  a  width  of  eight  hun 
dred  feet  and  at  an  elevation  of  about  three  hundred 
feet  above  tide.  It  is  twenty-nine  miles  northeast  of 
the  Lehigh  Gap  where  the  Lehigh  River  passes  the 
Blue  Ridge,  and  there  are  five  other  gaps  between 
them,  of  which  the  "  Wind  Gap,"  heretofore  referred 
to,  is  the  chief.  For  many  years  this  Wind  Gap 
provided  the  only  route  to  reach  the  country  north 
of  the  Kittatinny.  About  two  and  a  half  miles  south 
west  of  the  Delaware  is  "  Tat's  Gap,"  named  in 
memory  of  Moses  Fonda  Tatamy,  an  old  time  Indian 
interpreter  in  this  region,  and  familiarly  called 
"  Tat's  "  for  short.  The  greatest  of  all  these  passes, 
however,  is  the  Water  Gap,  where  the  Blue  Ridge, 
rent  asunder,  has  two  noble  peaks  guarding  the  por 
tals,  towering  sixteen  hundred  feet  high,  and  named 
in  honor  of  the  Indians — Mount  Minsi  in  Pennsylva- 


THE  MINISINK.  249 

nia,  after  the  tribes  of  the  Minisink,  and  Mount  Tam 
many  in  New  Jersey,  for  the  great  chief  of  the 
Lenni  Lenapes. 

"  Crags,  knolls  and  mounds,  in  dire  confusion  hurled, 
The  fragmentary  elements  of  an  earlier  world." 

The  Water  Gap  is  a  popular  summer  resort,  there 
being  numerous  hotels  and  boarding-houses  in  eligi 
ble  locations  all  about  it,  and  the  romantic  scenery 
has  been  opened  up  by  roads  and  paths  leading  to  all 
the  points  of  view.  It  is  on  such  a  stupendous 
scale,  and  exhibits  the  geological  changes  wrought 
during  countless  ages  so  well,  that  it  always  attracts 
the  greatest  interest.  To  the  northward  spread  the 
fertile  valleys  of  the  Minisink  j  and  the  Delaware, 
which  below  the  Gap  flows  to  the  southeast,  passing 
through  all  the  ridges,  comes  from  the  northeast  above 
the  Gap,  and  flows  along  the  base  of  the  Kittatinny 
for  miles,  as  if  seeking  the  outlet  which  it  at  length 
finds  in  this  remarkable  pass. 

THE   MINISINK. 

From  the  elevated  points  of  outlook  at  the  Water 
Gap  the  observer  can  gaze  northward  over  the  fer 
tile  and  attractive  hunting-grounds  of  the  Minsis,  the 
land  of  the  Minisink  stretching  far  up  the  Delaware, 
and  from  the  Kittatinny  over  to  the  base  of  the 
Pocono  Mountain.  This  is  the  region  of  the  "  buried 
valleys,"  remarkable  trough-like  valleys,  made  during 


250     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

an  ancient  geological  period,  and  partially  filled  up 
by  the  dSbris  from  the  great  glacier.  From  the  Hud 
son  River  in  New  York,  southwest  to  the  Lehigh,  and 
just  beyond  the  Kittatinny  range,  two  long  valleys, 
with  an  intervening  ridge,  stretch  across  the  country. 
The  Delaware  River,  from  Port  Jervis  to  BushkiU, 
flows  down  the  northwestern  of  these  valleys,  then 
doubles  back  on  itself,  and  breaks  through  the  inter 
vening  ridge  at  the  remarkable  Walpack  Bend  into 
the  other  valley,  and  follows  it  down  to  the  Water 
Gap.  The  northwestern  valley  begins  at  Rondout 
on  the  Hudson,  crosses  New  York  State  to  Port 
Jervis,  where  the  Delaware,  coming  from  the  north 
west,  turns  to  the  southeast  into  it,  occupying  it  for 
thirty  miles  to  Bushkill,  and  then  the  valley  continues 
past  Stroudsburg,  just  above  the  Water  Gap,  to  the 
Lehigh  River  at  Weissport,  below  Mauch  Chunk. 
The  other  valley  is  parallel  to  it  at  the  base  of  the 
Kittatinny.  These  valleys,  underlaid  by  the  shales 
as  bed-rocks,  have  been  filled  up  with  drift  by  the 
glacier  from  one  hundred  to  seven  hundred  feet  in 
depth,  and  they  constitute  the  famous  region  of  the 
Minisink. 

In  this  fertile  district  was  the  earliest  settlement 
made  by  white  men  in  Pennsylvania,  the  Dutch  from 
the  Hudson  River  wandering  over  to  the  Delaware  at 
Port  Jervis  through  these  valleys,  and  settling  on  the 
prolific  bottom  lands  along  the  river,  many  years  be 
fore  Penn  came  to  Philadelphia.  They  opened  cop- 


THE  MINISINK.  251 

per-mines  in  the  Kittatinny,  just  above  the  Water 
Gap,  and  made  the  old  "  Mine  Road  "  to  reach  them, 
coming  from  Esopus  on  the  Hudson.  The  records  at 
Albany  of  1650  refer  to  specimens  brought  from  "  a 
copper-mine  at  the  Minisink."  The  Provincial  au 
thorities  at  Philadelphia  do  not  appear  to  have  had 
any  clear  knowledge  of  settlers  above  the  Water 
Gap  until  1729,  when  they  sent  a  surveyor  up  to 
examine  and  report,  and  he  found  Nicholas  Depui  in 
a  snug  home,  where  he  had  bought  two  islands  and 
level  land  on  the  shore  from  the  Indians  some  time 
before.  Like  the  Dutch  settlers  above,  Depui  had 
no  idea  where  the  river  went  to.  He  was  a  French 
Huguenot  exile  from  Holland,  and,  without  disputing 
with  the  surveyor,  he  again  bought  his  land,  nearly 
six  hundred  and  fifty  acres,  in  1733,  from  the 
grantees  of  the  Penns.  His  stockaded  stone  house 
was  known  as  Depui's  Fort,  and  after  him  the  Water 
Gap  was  long  called  "  Depui's  Gap."  Old  George 
La  Bar  was  the  most  famous  resident  of  the  Water 
Gap.  Three  brothers  La  Bar,  Peter,  Charles  and 
Abraham,  also  French  Huguenots,  lived  near  the 
Gap,  and  each  married  a  Dutch  wife.  In  1808, 
however,  this  region  became  too  crowded  for  them, 
and  Peter,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five,  migrated  to  Ohio 
to  get  more  room.  When  ninety-eight  years  old  his 
wife  died,  and  in  his  one  hundredth  year  he  married 
another  out  on  the  Ohio  frontier,  and  lived  to  the  ripe 
age  of  one  hundred  and  five.  Peter,  when  he  mi- 


252     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

grated,  left  his  son  George  La  Bar  at  the  Gap,  where 
he  had  been  born  in  1763.  George  was  the  famous 
centenarian  of  Pennsylvania,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
one  hundred  and  seven,  being  a  vigorous  axeman 
almost  until  the  day  of  his  death.  He  was  too  young 
for  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  but  when  the  War  of 
1812  came  he  was  too  old.  In  1869,  at  the  age  of 
one  hundred  and  six,  a  visitor  describes  him  as  fell 
ing  trees  and  peeling  with  his  own  hands  three 
wagon-loads  of  bark,  which  went  to  the  tannery. 
He  never  wore  spectacles,  always  used  tobacco,  voted 
the  straight  Democratic  ticket,  and  at  every  Presi 
dential  election  from  Washington  to  Grant,  and  could 
not  be  persuaded  to  ride  on  a  railway  train,  regard 
ing  the  cars  as  an  innovation. 

In  this  region  of  the  Minisink  is  the  pleasant  town 
of  Stroudsburg,  the  county-seat  of  Monroe,  its  beau 
tiful  valley  being  well  described  by  a  local  authority 
as  "  full  of  dimpling  hills  and  fine  orchards,  among 
which  stalwart  men  live  to  a  ripe  old  age  upon  the 
purest  apple  whisky."  Its  finest  building,  the  State 
Normal  College,  handsomely  located  on  an  elevated 
ridge,  has  three  hundred  students.  The  town  was 
named  for  Jacob  Stroud,  a  pioneer  and  Indian  fighter, 
who  was  with  General  Wolfe  when  he  scaled  the 
Heights  of  Abraham,  and,  capturing  Quebec,  changed 
the  map  of  Colonial  America.  Marshall's  Creek 
comes  down  to  join  its  waters  with  Brodhead's  Creek 
below  Stroudsburg,  and  a  few  miles  above  displays 


THE  MINISINK.  253 

the  pretty  little  cataract  of  Marshall's  Falls.  Six 
miles  northwest  of  Stroudsburg  is  the  Pocono  Knob, 
rising  in  stately  grandeur  as  it  abruptly  terminates 
the  Pocono  Mountain  wall  on  its  eastern  face.  It 
was  this  Knob  which  stood  out  as  an  island  in  the 
edge  of  the  great  glacier,  a  deep  notch  separating  its 
summit  from  the  plateau  behind,  and  the  Terminal 
Moraine  encircles  its  sides  at  about  two-thirds  its 
height.  In  the  river  bottom  lands  are  fertile  farms, 
and  a  great  deal  of  tobacco  is  raised.  Thus  the  river 
leads  us  to  Bushkill  and  the  great  Walpack  Bend. 
The  Delaware,  coming  from  the  northeast,  impinges 
upon  the  solid  sandstone  wall  of  the  "  Hog's  Back," 
the  prolongation  of  the  ridge  dividing  the  two 
"  Buried  Valleys."  This  ridge  bristles  with  attenu 
ated  firs,  and  hence  its  appropriate  name.  The  Big 
Bushkill  and  the  Little  Bushkill  Creeks,  uniting,  flow 
in  from  the  west,  and  the  Delaware  turns  sharply 
eastward  and  then  back  upon  itself  around  the  ridge 
into  the  other  valley,  and  resumes  its  course  south 
west  again  down  to  the  Water  Gap.  This  double 
Walpack  curve,  making  a  perfect  letter  "  S,"  is  so 
narrow  and  compressed  that  a  rifleman,  standing  on 
either  side,  can  readily  send  his  bullet  in  a  straight 
line  across  the  river  three  times.  The  Indian  word 
Walpack  means  "  a  turn  hole."  The  Delaware  here 
is  a  succession  of  rifts  and  pools,  making  a  constant 
variation  of  rapids  and  still  waters,  with  many  spots 
sacred  to  the  angler,  and  displaying  magnificent 


254     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

scenery  as  the  lights  and  shadows  pass  across  the 
beautiful  forest-covered  hills  enclosing  its  banks. 

BUSHKILL   TO   PORT   JERVIS. 

Bushkill  village  is  in  a  picturesque  location,  open 
ing  pleasantly  towards  the  Delaware.  It  is  also  just 
over  the  Monroe  border,  in  Pike  County,  long  ago 
described  by  Horace  Greeley  as  "  famous  for  rattle 
snakes  and  Democrats,"  but  now  more  noted  for  its 
fine  waterfalls  and  attractive  scenery,  its  many  streams 
draining  numerous  beautiful  lakes,  and  dancing  down 
frequent  roaring  rapids  in  the  journey  to  the  Dela 
ware.  The  falls  of  the  Little  Bushkill  near  the  vil 
lage  is  the  finest  cataract  in  Pennsylvania.  From 
Bushkill,  bordering  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Dela 
ware,  for  thirty  miles  up  to  Port  Jervis,  is  one  of  the 
best  roads  in  the  world.  The  Marcellus  shales  of  the 
Buried  Valley,  which  form  the  towering  cliffs  border 
ing  the  river  along  the  base  of  which  the  road  is  laid, 
make  a  road-bed  as  smooth  and  hard  as  a  floor,  the 
chief  highway  of  this  district,  for  the  railway  has  not 
yet  penetrated  it.  Over  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river  the  great  Kittatinny  ridge  presents  an  almost 
unbroken  wall  for  more  than  forty  miles  from  the 
Water  Gap  up  to  Port  Jervis.  Frequent  creeks 
come  in,  all  angling  streams,  the  chief  of  them  being 
Dingman's,  which  for  several  miles  displays  a  series 
of  cataracts,  and  at  its  mouth  has  the  noted  Pike 
County  village  of  "  Dingman's  Choice,"  at  which  is 


BUSHKILL  TO  POKT  JEEVIS.  255 

located  the  time-honored  Dingman's  Ferry,  across 
the  Delaware.  The  source  of  Dingman's  Creek  is 
in  the  Silver  Lake,  about  seven  miles  west  of  the 
Delaware,  and  in  its  flow  it  descends  about  nine  hun 
dred  feet,  breaking  its  way  over  the  various  strata  of 
Catskill,  Chemung  and  Hamilton  sandstones.  The 
upper  cataracts,  called  the  Fulmer  and  Factory  Falls 
and  the  Deer  Leap,  are  located  in  a  beautiful  ravine 
known  as  the  Childs  Park,  while,  below,  the  creek 
pours  over  the  High  Falls,  one  hundred  and  thirty 
feet  high,  a  short  distance  from  the  river.  Near  this 
is  the  curious  Soap  Trough,  an  inclined  plane  de 
scending  one  hundred  feet,  always  filled  with  foam? 
down  which  comes  the  Silver  Thread,  a  small  tribu 
tary  stream.  The  gorge  by  which  Dingman's  Creek 
comes  out  is  deep  and  massive,  the  entrance  being 
a  narrow  canyon  cut  down  into  the  Marcellus  shales 
which  make  the  towering  cliffs  along  the  river. 
There  are  also  fine  cataracts  on  the  Raymondskill  and 
the  Sawkill,  flowing  into  the  Delaware  above.  The 
cliffs  here  rise  into  Utter's  Peak,  elevated  eight  hun 
dred  feet,  giving  a  magnificent  view  along  the  valley. 
The  little  town  of  Milford,  the  county-seat  of  Pike, 
is  one  of  the  gems  of  this  district,  spread  over  a 
broad  terrace  on  the  bluff  high  above  the  Delaware, 
with  a  grand  outlook  at  the  ponderous  Kittatinny  in 
front,  rising  to  its  greatest  elevation  at  High  Point, 
six  miles  away,  where  a  hotel  is  perched  on  the  sum 
mit.  Surrounded  by  mountains,  the  late  N.  P. 


256     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

Willis,  when  he  visited  Milford,  was  so  impressed  by 
its  peculiar  situation  that  he  described  it  as  "  looking 
like  a  town  that  all  the  mountains  around  have  dis 
owned  and  kicked  into  the  middle."  Thomas  Quick, 
Sr.,  a  Hollander,  who  came  over  from  the  Hudson 
in  1733,  was  the  first  settler  in  Milford.  His  noted 
son,  Thomas  Quick,  the  "  Indian  Killer,"  was  born 
in  1734.  "  Tom  Quick,"  as  he  was  called,  was 
brought  up  among  the  Indians,  and  had  the  closest 
friendship  for  them  j  but  when  the  terrible  Colonial 
war  began,  the  savages,  in  a  foray,  killed  and  scalped 
his  father  almost  by  his  side,  Tom  being  shot  in  the 
foot,  but  escaping.  Tom  vowed  vengeance,  and  ever 
afterwards  was  a  perfect  demon  in  his  hatred  of  the 
Indians,  sparing  neither  age  nor  sex.  After  the 
French  and  Indian  war  had  closed  and  peace  was 
proclaimed,  he  carried  on  his  own  warfare  indepen 
dently.  The  most  harrowing  tales  are  told  of  his 
Indian  murders,  some  being  horribly  brutal.  He 
never  married,  but  hunted  Indians  and  wild  beasts  all 
his  life,  and  was  outlawed  by  the  Government,  it 
being  announced  that  no  Indian  who  killed  him 
would  be  punished;  but  he  finally  died  in  bed  in 
1796.  He  was  entirely  unrepentant  during  his  last 
illness,  regretting  he  had  not  killed  more  Indians ; 
and  after  saying  he  had  killed  ninety-nine  during  his 
life,  he  begged  them  to  bring  in  an  old  Indian  who 
lived  in  the  settlement,  so  that  he  might  appropri 
ately  close  his  career  by  killing  the  hundredth  red- 


BUSHKILL  TO  PORT  JERVIS.       257 

skin.  The  most  noted  Milford  building  is  "  Pinchot's 
Castle,"  on  the  hillside  above  the  Sawkill,  a  Norman- 
Breton  baronial  hall,  the  summer  house  of  the  Pin- 
chot  family  of  New  York,  whose  ancestor,  a  French 
refugee  after  Waterloo,  was  an  early  settler  here. 

Seven  miles  above  Milford  the  Delaware  Eiver 
makes  the  great  right-angled  bend  in  its  course,  from 
the  southeast  to  the  southwest,  which  is  known  as  the 
"  Tri-States  Corner,"  and  here,  on  the  broad  flats  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Neversink  River,  is  the  town  of 
Port  Jervis.  From  the  village  of  Deposit,  ninety 
miles  above,  the  Delaware  descends  in  level  five  hun 
dred  and  seventy  feet ;  and  from  Port  Jervis  down 
to  the  Water  Gap,  forty-three  miles,  the  descent  is 
one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  feet.  In  the  first  it 
falls  six  feet  per  mile  and  in  the  latter  only  three 
feet,  the  difference  being  caused  by  the  entirely 
changed  conditions  above  and  below  the  great  bend. 
Above,  the  Delaware  flows  through  the  ridges  by  a 
winding  ravine  cut  transversely  across  the  hard  rocks 
almost  all  the  way,  while  below,  it  meanders  parallel 
to  the  ridges  along  the  outcrop  of  the  softer  rocks  of 
the  Marcellus  shales  and  Clinton  formations  in  the 
long,  trough-like  buried  valleys.  The  Neversink 
comes  from  the  northeast  through  one  of  these  val 
leys  which  is  prolonged  over  to  the  Hudson,  the 
source  of  the  Neversink  being  on  a  divide  of  such 
gentle  slope  that  the  large  spring  making  the  head 
sends  part  of  its  waters  the  other  way,  through 
VOL.  I. —17 


258     AMEKICA,  PICTUEESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

Rondout  Creek  into  the  Hudson.  A  long,  narrow 
peninsula,  just  at  the  completion  of  the  great  bend, 
juts  out  between  the  Neversink  and  the  Delaware, 
ending  in  a  sharp,  low,  wedge-like  rocky  point,  the 
extremity  being  the  "  Tri-States  Corner,"  where  the 
boundary  line  between  New  Jersey  and  New  York 
reaches  the  Delaware,  and  ends  in  mid-river  at  the 
boundary  of  Pennsylvania.  This  spot  was  located 
after  a  long  boundary  war,  and  the  fact  is  duly  re 
corded  on  the  "  Tri-States  Rock,"  down  at  the  end 
of  the  point.  The  Delaware  and  Hudson  Canal,  con 
structed  in  1828,  and  coming  over  from  Rondout 
Creek  through  the  Neversink  Valley,  made  Port 
Jervis,  which  was  named  after  one  of  its  engineers. 
The  canal  goes  up  the  Delaware  to  the  Lackawaxen, 
and  then  follows  that  stream  to  Honesdale.  The  Erie 
Railway  also  comes  through  a  gap  in  the  Kittatinny 
(here  called  the  Shawangunk  Mountain,  meaning  the 
"  white  rocks "),  descends  to  Port  Jervis,  and  then 
follows  up  the  Delaware.  These  two  great  public 
works  have  made  the  prosperity  of  the  town,  which 
has  a  population  of  over  ten  thousand.  The  long 
and  towering  ridge  of  Point  Peter,  forming  the  north 
western  boundary  of  the  Neversink  Valley,  and 
thrust  out  to  the  Delaware,  bounding  the  gorge 
through  which  the  river  comes,  overlooks  the  town. 
On  the  other  side  is  the  highest  elevation  of  the  Kit 
tatinny  and  the  most  elevated  land  in  New  Jersey, 
High  Point,  rising  nineteen  hundred  and  sixty  feet. 


THE  CATSKILL  FLAGS.  259 


THE   CATSKILL  FLAGS. 

The  broadened  valley  of  the  Delaware  extends  a 
short  distance  above  Port  Jervis,  the  canal  and  rail 
way  rounding  the  ponderous  battlements  of  Point 
Peter  and  then  proceeding  up  the  river,  one  on 
either  bank.  About  three  miles  above  the  "  Port," 
as  it  is  familiarly  called,  the  valley  contracts  to  a 
rock-enclosed  gorge,  for  here  the  Delaware  emerges 
from  its  great  canyon  in  the  Catskill  series  of  rocks, 
in  the  bottom  of  which  it  flows  from  Deposit,  at  the 
northern  boundary  of  Pennsylvania,  eighty-seven 
miles  above.  The  remarkable  change  seen  in  the 
surrounding  topography  indicates  the  presence  of  a 
different  rock  formation  from  that  passed  below,  and 
the  river  runs  out  of  the  Catskill  rocks  over  the 
u  Saw-mill  rift."  For  thirty  miles  above,  to  the 
northern  line  of  Pike  County,  at  Narrowsburg,  the 
river  banks  mostly  are  only  mere  shelves  a  few  rods 
wide,  and  frequently  present  nothing  but  the  faces 
of  rocky  walls,  rising  perpendicularly  from  the  water 
to  a  height  of  six  hundred  feet  or  more.  From  the 
expanding  limestones  below,  the  valley  here  suddenly 
contracts  in  the  flags  and  ledges  of  the  Catskill  series. 
All  the  small  streams  coming  from  the  bluffs  back  of 
the  cliffs  descend  with  rapid  fall,  and  frequently  over 
high  cascades.  These  Catskill  flags,  built  up  in  vast 
construction,  rear  their  gaunt  and  weather-beaten 
jagged  walls  and  wood-crowned  turrets  on  high. 


260     AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

Perched  far  up  on  the  New  York  side,  at  the  nar 
rowest  part  of  this  remarkable  gorge,  is  an  eyrie 
called  the  "  Hawk's  Nest,"  which  gives  a  wonderful 
view,  reached  by  a  road  carved  out  of  the  rocky  side 
of  the  abyss.  This  road,  hung  on  the  perpendicular 
wall  five  hundred  feet  over  the  river,  is  the  only 
available  route  to  the  part  of  New  York  north  of 
Port  Jervis.  The  canal  and  railway,  far  below,  are 
each  set  on  a  shelf  cut  out  of  the  rocky  banks.  The 
enclosing  cliffs  rise  higher  as  the  river  is  ascended, 
sometimes  reaching  an  elevation  of  twelve  hundred 
feet ;  and  here  for  miles  are  seen  the  famous  Dela 
ware  and  Starucca  flags,  rising  hundreds  of  feet  in  a 
continuous  wall  of  bluish-gray  and  greenish-gray 
flaggy  sandstones.  They  are  extensively  quarried 
and  shipped  to  New  York.  Both  railway  and  canal 
construction  through  this  deep  cleft  were  enormously 
costly. 

THE   BATTLE    OF    LACKAWAXEN. 

Here  is  Shohola  Township,  on  the  Pennsylvania 
shore,  a  wild  and  rocky  region  fronting  on  the  river 
for  about  ten  miles,  and  Shohola  Creek  rushes  down 
a  rocky  bed  through  a  deep  gorge  to  seek  the  Dela 
ware.  It  was  at  this  place  the  surveyors'  line  was 
drawn  from  the  Lehigh  over  to  the  Delaware,  after 
Marshall's  fateful  walk.  The  "Shohola  Glen,"  a 
favorite  excursion  ground,  has  the  channel  of  the 
creek,  only  forty  feet  wide,  cut  down  for  two  hun 
dred  feet  deep  into  the  flagstones,  and  it  plunges  over 


THE  BATTLE  OF  LACKA WAXEN.  261 

four  attractive  cascades  at  the  Shohola  Falls  above. 
A  short  distance  northward  the  Lackawaxen  flows 
in  through  a  fine  gorge,  broadening  out  as  the  Dela 
ware  is  approached  j  and  the  canal,  after  crossing  the 
latter  on  an  aqueduct,  goes  up  the  Lackawaxen  bank. 
A  grand  amphitheatre  of  towering  hills  surrounds  the 
broad  flats  where  the  Lackawaxen  brings  its  ample 
flow  of  dark  amber-colored  waters  out  of  the  hemlock 
forests  and  swamps  of  Wayne  County  to  this  pictur 
esque  spot.  Here  was  fought,  on  July  22,  1779,  the 
battle  of  Lackawaxen  or  the  Minisink,  the  chief 
Revolutionary  conflict  on  the  upper  Delaware.  The 
battlefield  was  a  rocky  ledge  on  the  New  York  side, 
elevated  about  five  hundred  feet  above  the  river, 
amid  the  lofty  hills  of  Highland  Township,  in  Sullivan 
County.  The  noted  Mohawk  chief,  Joseph  Brandt, 
with  a  force  of  fifteen  hundred  Indians  and  Tories, 
came  down  from  Northern  New  York  to  plunder  the 
frontier  settlements.  Most  of  the  inhabitants  fled 
down  to  the  forts  on  the  Lehigh  or  across  the  Blue 
Ridge,  upon  his  approach  j  but  a  small  militia  force 
was  hastily  gathered  under  Colonels  Hathorn  and 
Tusten  to  meet  the  enemy,  whom  they  found  cross 
ing  the  Delaware  at  a  ford  near  the  Lackawaxen. 
Hathorn,  who  commanded,  moved  to  attack,  but 
Brandt  rushed  his  Indians  up  a  ravine,  intercepting 
Hathorn  just  as  he  got  out  on  the  rocky  ledge,  and 
cutting  off  about  fifty  of  his  rear  guard.  Hathorn 
had  ninety  men  with  him,  who  quickly  threw  up  a 


262     AMEKICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

rude  breastwork,  protecting  about  a  half-acre  of  the 
ledge.  Their  ammunition  was  scant,  it  was  a  ter 
ribly  hot  day,  they  had  no  water,  and  were  soon  sur 
rounded  j  but  for  six  hours  they  bravely  defended 
themselves,  when,  the  ammunition  being  all  gone, 
the  Indians  broke  through  their  line.  Tusten  was 
attending  the  wounded,  and  with  seventeen  wounded 
men,  whom  he  was  alleviating,  was  tomahawked,  all 
being  massacred.  The  others  fled,  many  being  slain 
in  the  pursuit.  Forty-four  of  the  little  band  were 
killed,  and  the  fifty  in  the  rear  guard  who  had  been 
cut  off  were  never  afterwards  heard  of.  Years  after 
wards,  the  bones  of  the  slain  in  this  terrible  defeat 
were  gathered  on  the  field  and  taken  across  the  Blue 
Kidge  to  Goshen  for  interment,  and  in  1822  a  monu 
ment  was  erected  at  Goshen  in  their  memory,  Colonel 
Hathorn,  who  was  then  living,  making  an  address. 
On  the  centenary  anniversary  in  1879  a  monument 
was  dedicated  on  the  field,  where  faint  relics  of  the 
old  breastwork  were  still  traceable  on  the  rocky  ledge 
perched  high  above  the  river,  almost  opposite  the 
mouth  of  the  Lackawaxen. 

THE    SYLVANIA   SOCIETY. 

The  county  of  Wayne  is  separated  from  the  county 
of  Lackawanna  by  the  great  Moosic  Mountain  range, 
the  divide  between  two  noted  rivers,  the  Lackawaxen 
and  the  Lackawanna.  The  former,  draining  its 
southeastern  slopes  to  the  Delaware,  was  the 


THE  SYLVANIA  SOCIETY.  263 

"  Lechau-weksink  "  of  the  Indians,  meaning  "  where 
the  roads  part,"  evidently  referring  to  the  parting  of 
the  Indian  trails  at  its  confluence  with  the  Delaware  j 
the  latter,  flowing  out  to  the  Susquehanna  on  its 
northwestern  side,  was  the  "  Lechau-hanne,"  or 
"  where  the  streams  part,"  signifying  the  forks  of 
two  rivers.  We  ascend  the  Lackawaxen,  finding  the 
route  up  the  gorge  along  the  canal  towpath,  once  the 
great  water  way  of  the  Delaware  and  Hudson  Com 
pany  for  bringing  out  coal,  but  now  abandoned,  as 
the  railway  route  is  cheaper.  This  canal,  opened  in 
1828,  was  one  hundred  and  seventeen  miles  long,  and 
ascended  from  tidewater  on  the  Hudson  at  Rondout  to 
four  hundred  and  fifty  feet  elevation  at  Port  Jervis, 
and  nine  hundred  and  sixty-five  feet  at  Honesdale. 
Its  route  throughout  is  through  grand  river  gorges 
and  the  most  magnificent  scenery. 

It  was  in  this  beautiful  region,  just  south  of  the 
river,  that  Horace  Greeley,  in  1842,  started  what  he 
called  the  "  Sylvania  Society,"  founded  to  demon 
strate  the  wisdom  of  "the  common  ownership  of 
property  and  the  equal  division  of  labor,"  which 
Greeley  was  then  advocating  by  lectures  and  in  his 
newspaper.  Many  eminent  persons  took  stock  in  the 
society  at  $25  per  share,  and  the  experiment  of  co 
operative  farming  was  begun  in  a  region  of  rough 
and  rocky  Pike  County  soil,  where  the  amateur 
farmers  also  found  amusement,  for  it  is  recorded  that 
"  the  stream  was  alive  with  trout,  and  the  surround- 


264     AMEKICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

ing  hills  were  equally  well  provided  with  the  largest 
and  liveliest  of  rattlesnakes."  They  had  weekly  lec 
tures  and  dancing  parties,  the  colony  at  one  time 
numbering  three  hundred  persons,  Mr.  Grreeley,  who . 
took  the  deepest  interest,  frequently  visiting  them. 
The  society  was  a  success  socially  and  intellectually, 
but  the  labor  problem  soon  caused  trouble.  A  Board 
of  Directors  governed  the  farm  and  assigned  the 
laborers  their  work,  the  principle  of  equality  being 
observed  by  changing  them  from  one  branch  of  labor 
to  another  day  by  day.  But  trouble  soon  came,  for 
there  were  too  many  wayward  sons  sent  out  from 
New  York  to  the  colony  who  never  had  worked  and 
never  intended  to,  but  preferred  going  fishing.  Vari 
ous  of  the  females  also  decidedly  objected  to  taking 
their  turns  at  the  washtub.  The  abundance  of  rat 
tlesnakes  had  influence,  and  one  day  a  venturesome 
colonist  brought  in  seventeen  large  rattlers,  causing 
dire  consternation.  They  tanned  the  skin  of  one 
big  fellow,  and  made  it  into  a  pair  of  slippers,  which 
were  presented  to  Mr.  Greeley  on  his  next  visit.  As 
is  usually  the  case,  the  colonists  had  ravenous  appe 
tites,  and  it  was  impossible  to  raise  enough  food 
crops  to  feed  them,  so  that  food  had  to  be  bought, 
and  the  capital  was  thus  seriously  drawn  upon.  In 
1845  they  had  a  prospect  of  a  generous  yield  at  the 
harvest,  when  suddenly,  on  July  4th,  a  deadly  frost 
killed  all  their  crops;  and  this  ended  the  experi 
mental  colony.  In  two  days  everybody  had  left  the 


ASCENDING  THE  LACKAWAXEN.  265 

place,  and  Greeley  was  almost  heartbroken  at  the 
failure  of  his  cherished  plans.  A  mortgage  on  the 
farm  was  foreclosed  and  the  land  sold  to  strangers. 
A  Monroe  County  farmer,  who  had  invested  $1800 
in  the  enterprise  and  lost  it,  became  so  angry  at  the 
collapse  that  he  went  to  New  York,  as  he  said,  "  to 
give  Horace  Greeley  a  Monroe  County  Democrat's 
opinion  of  him."  He  found  the  great  editor  at  work 
in  the  Tribune  office,  and  began  berating  him.  Gree 
ley,  as  soon  as  a  chance  was  given,  asked  his  visitor 
how  much  he  had  lost  by  the  failure.  He  replied, 
u  Eighteen  hundred  dollars  ;'?  when,  without  further 
parley,  Greeley  drew  a  check  for  the  amount  and 
handed  it  to  him.  The  farmer  was  so  astonished  and 
impressed  by  this  most  unexpected  action  that  he  im 
mediately  became,  as  he  afterwards  stated,  "  a  Gree 
ley  Whig,"  and  remained  one  all  his  life. 

ASCENDING   THE    LACKAWAXEN. 

At  Glen  Eyre,  the  Blooming  Grove  Creek  flows 
merrily  into  the  Lackawaxen,  coming  out  from  Bloom 
ing  Grove  Township  to  the  southward,  an  elevated 
wooded  plateau  in  the  interior  of  Pike,  which  is  the 
common  heading  ground  for  numerous  streams  radi 
ating  in  every  direction,  and  containing  a  score  of 
attractive  lakes.  This  region  is  a  wilderness  where 
deer,  bears  and  other  wild  animals  roam,  while  the 
streams  are  noted  angling  resorts.  In  it  are  the  two 
famous  u  Knobs,"  the  highest  elevations  of  the  whole 


266      AMEEICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

Pocono  range,  the  southern  or  "  High  Knob  "  rising 
two  thousand  and  ten  feet,  out-topping  the  Kittatinny 
"  High  Point."  This  "  Knob  "  stands  like  a  pyramid, 
at  least  five  hundred  feet  above  all  the  surrounding 
country,  excepting  its  neighbor,  the  "  North  Knob," 
wKich  is  only  one  hundred  feet  lower.  These  are  the 
northeastern  outposts  of  the  Pocono  range.  Upon 
the  top  of  the  "  High  Knob  "  is  a  large  boulder  of 
white  conglomerate,  dropped  by  the  ice  in  the  glacial 
period,  and  this  summit  gives  the  most  extensive 
view  in  Pennsylvania,  over  dark,  fir-covered  ridges 
in  every  direction,  interspersed  with  lakelets  glisten 
ing  in  the  sunlight.  There  is  not  a  house  to  be  seen, 
and  scarcely  a  clearing,  but  all  around  is  one  vast 
wilderness.  The  greater  part  of  this  region  is  the 
estate  of  the  "  Blooming  Grove  Park  Association," 
covering  thirteen  thousand  acres,  surrounded  by  a 
high  fence,  and  stocked  with  game  and  fish,  there 
being  over  $300,000  invested  in  the  enterprise. 
Here  elk  and  deer  are  bred,  there  are  abundant  hares 
and  rabbits,  and  also  woodcock,  grouse  and  snipe 
shooting.  The  spacious  club-house  is  elevated  high 
above  the  rocky  shores  of  Lake  Giles,  a  most  beau 
tiful  circular  sheet  of  clear  spring  water,  fourteen 
hundred  feet  above  tide,  and  to  it  the  anglers  and 
hunters  take  their  families  and  enjoy  the  pleasures  of 
the  virgin  woods. 

The    Wallenpaupack    Creek,   coming    out  of  the 
Pocono  plateau  and  the  Moosic  Mountain,  makes  the 


ASCENDING  THE  LACKAWAXEN.  267 

boundary  between  Pike  and  Wayne  Counties,  and 
flows  into  the  Lackawaxen  at  Hawley.  For  most  of 
the  distance  its  course  is  deep  and  sluggish,  but  ap 
proaching  the  edge  of  the  terrace,  within  a  couple  of 
miles  of  the  Lackawaxen,  it  tumbles  over  cataracts 
and  down  rapids  through  a  magnificent  gorge,  so 
that,  from  its  alternating  characteristics,  the  Indians 
rightly  called  it  the  Walink-papeek,  or  "the  slow  and 
swift  water."  It  descends  a  cascade  of  seventy  feet, 
and  then  goes  down  the  Sliding  Fall,  a  series  of  rapids 
interspersed  with  several  small  cataracts.  Farther 
down  are  two  cascades  of  thirty  feet  each,  and  then 
the  main  plunge,  the  Paupack  falls  of  sixty-one  feet, 
almost  at  its  mouth,  the  whole  descent  being  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  Hawley  has  thriving 
mills,  whose  wheels  are  turned  by  this  admirable 
water-power,  and  it  is  also  a  railway  centre  for  coal 
shipping.  Its  people  are  noted  makers  of  silks,  and  of 
cut  and  decorated  glassware.  Judge  James  Wilson, 
one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen 
dence,  was  an  early  settler  on  the  Wallenpaupack. 

Above  Hawley,  in  a  broadened  intervale  of  the 
Lackawaxen,  was  the  famous  "  Indian  Orchard," 
where  the  first  settlement,  made  in  1760,  grew  after 
wards  into  Honesdale,  now  the  county-seat  of  Wayne. 
This  was  a  tract  of  land  in  the  valley  upon  which  the 
lofty  Irving  Cliff  looks  down  j  and  it  was  named  from 
a  row  of  one  hundred  apple  trees  which  the  Indians 
had  planted  at  regular  intervals  along  the  river  bank. 


268     AMEKICA,  PICTUKESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

The  tradition  was  that  ninety-nine  trees  bore  sweet 
fruit,  while  one  every  alternate  year  had  a  crop  of  sour 
apples.  Upon  a  large  clearing  at  the  water's  edge, 
paved  with  flat  stones,  the  Indians  held  their  feasts 
and  performed  their  religious  rites.  The  orchard 
and  stones  have  disappeared,  but  the  plow  still  turns 
up  Indian  relics.  This  place  was  selected  by  the 
Delaware  and  Hudson  Company  for  the  head  of  their 
now  abandoned  canal,  at  the  base  of  the  Moosic 
Mountain,  and  it  was  named  Honesdale,  in  honor  of 
the  first  president  of  the  canal  company,  Philip  Hone, 
described  as  "  the  courtliest  Mayor  New  York  ever 
saw."  Within  the  town  the  two  pretty  streams  unite 
which  form  the  Lackawaxen,  making  lakelets  on  the 
plain,  and  from  the  shore  of  one  of  these  the  rocks 
rise  almost  perpendicularly  nearly  four  hundred  feet. 
In  1841  Washington  Irving  came  here  with  some 
friends,  making  the  journey  on  the  canal,  and  climbed 
these  rocks  to  overlook  the  lovely  intervale,  and  thus 
the  Irving  Cliff  was  named.  Writing  of  his  visit,  he 
spoke  in  wonder  of  the  beautiful  scenery  and  roman 
tic  route  of  the  Delaware  and  Hudson  Canal,  saying : 
"  For  many  miles  it  is  built  up  along  the  face  of  per 
pendicular  precipices,  rising  into  stupendous  cliffs, 
with  overhanging  forests,  or  jutting  out  into  vast 
promontories,  while  upon  the  other  side  you  look 
down  upon  the  Delaware,  foaming  and  roaring  below 
you,  at  the  foot  of  an  immense  wall  or  embankment 
which  supports  the  canal.  Altogether,  it  is  one  of 


ASCENDING  THE  LACKAWAXEN.  269 

the  most  daring  undertakings  I  have  ever  witnessed, 
to  carry  an  artificial  river  over  rocky  mountains,  and 
up  the  most  savage  and  almost  impracticable  defiles. 
For  upward  of  ninety  miles  I  went  through  a  con 
stant  succession  of  scenery  that  would  have  been 
famous  had  it  existed  in  any  part  of  Europe." 

From  Honesdale  a  gravity  railroad  crosses  the 
Moosic  Mountain  into  the  Lackawanna  Valley  at  Car- 
bondale.  This  was  originally  used  to  bring  the  coal 
out  for  the  canal,  but  has  been  abandoned  for  this 
purpose,  being  now  confined  to  passenger  service.  It 
has  twenty-eight  inclined  planes,  and  crosses  the  sum 
mit  at  Far  View,  at  an  elevation  of  nearly  two  thou 
sand  feet.  The  first  locomotive  brought  to  America, 
built  at  Stourbridge,  England,  in  1828,  the  "  Stour- 
bridge  Lion,"  was  used  on  the  levels  of  this  railroad, 
the  face  of  a  lion  adorning  the  front  of  the  boiler 
giving  it  the  name.  When  brought  out  in  1829  the 
triumphant  claim  was  made  that  it  (( would  run  four 
miles  an  hour."  The  road  passes  over  extended 
mountain  tops,  giving  far-seeing  views ;  and  among 
these  sombre  rounded  ridges  in  the  wilderness  of 
Wayne  are  the  sources  of  the  Lackawaxen.  Car- 
bond  ale,  built  on  the  coal  measures  of  the  upper 
Lackawanna  Valley,  has  about  eighteen  thousand 
population ;  but  all  its  coal  now  goes  to  market  by 
other  railway  routes,  the  gravity  road  and  the  canal 
being  found  too  expensive  carriers  in  the  fierce  com 
petition  of  the  anthracite  industry. 


270      AMERICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 


THE   HEADWATERS  OF   THE    DELAWARE. 

The  Delaware,  above  the  Lackawaxen,  flows  be 
tween  massive  cliffs  in  a  deeply-cut  gorge  through 
the  flagstones.  At  Mast  Hope,  years  ago,  was  got  the 
biggest  pine  tree  ever  cut  on  the  Delaware  for  a  ves- 
sePs  mast.  The  "  Forest  Lake  Association,"  another 
hunting-  and  fishing-club  near  here,  has  an  extensive 
estate  covering  the  high  ridge  between  the  Delaware 
and  the  Lackawaxen.  At  Big  Eddy  the  river  makes 
a  sort  of  lake  two  miles  long,  of  pure  spring  water, 
the  widest  and  deepest  part  of  the  Delaware  beyond 
tidewater.  Stupendous  cliffs  contract  the  river  above 
at  the  Narrows,  where  the  village  of  Narrowsburg  is 
built,  and  this  region  and  the  neighboring  lake-strewn 
highlands  of  Sullivan  County,  New  York,  were  the 
chief  scenes  of  Cooper's  novel,  The  Last  of  the  Mo 
hicans.  As  we  advance  through  its  upper  canyon, 
the  Delaware  grows  gradually  smaller,  but  the  en 
closing  ridges  recede  and  leave  a  broad  and  fertile 
valley.  Here  are  the  villages  of  Damascus  and  Co- 
checton,  connected  by  a  bridge,  and  having  together 
probably  a  thousand  inhabitants.  The  original  In 
dian  village  was  Cushatunk,  meaning  the  a  lowlands," 
and  from  this  Cochecton  is  derived.  It  was  the  sad 
scene  of  various  Indian  forays  and  massacres  before 
and  during  the  Revolution.  For  many  years  lumber 
ing  and  tanning  were  great  industries  in  this  region, 
but  they  have  almost  entirely  passed  away. 


THE  HEADWATERS  OF  THE  DELAWARE.   2Y1 

We  are  coming  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Delaware. 
At  Hancock,  elevated  about  nine  hundred  feet  above 
tide,  the  Delaware  divides.  The  Popacton,  or  east 
branch,  comes  in,  the  Mohock,  or  western  branch, 
however,  being  the  larger  stream,  and  making  the 
boundary  between  Pennsylvania  and  New  York 
above  their  junction.  These  two  branches,  after 
flowing  nearly  parallel  for  a  long  distance  across 
Delaware  County,  New  York,  separated  by  a  broad 
mountain  ridge  about  eleven  miles  wide,  unite  around 
the  base  of  a  great  dome-like  hill  at  Hancock,  the 
spot  having  been  appropriately  named  by  the  Indians 
Sho-ka-kin,  or  "  where  th&  waters  meet."  Thirteen 
miles  above  is  Deposit,  at  the  New  York  boundary, 
where  Oquaga  Creek  comes  down  from  the  moun 
tains  to  the  westward.  This  was  formerly  an  im 
portant  "  place  of  deposit "  for  lumber,  awaiting  the 
spring  freshets  to  be  sent  down  the  Delaware,  and 
hence  its  name.  High  hills  surround  Deposit,  the 
river  makes  a  grand  sweeping  bend,  and  nearby  is 
the  beautiful  mountain  lake  of  Oquaga,  of  which  Tay 
lor  writes :  "  If  there  is  a  more  restful  place  than 
this,  outside  '  God's  acres/  I  have  failed  to  find  it ;" 
adding,  "  The  mountain  road  to  the  lake  is  pictur 
esque  enough  to  lead  to  Paradise."  The  headwaters 
of  the  Delaware  rise  upon  the  western  slopes  of  the 
Catskill  Mountains  in  Delaware  and  Schoharie  Coun 
ties,  New  York.  The  source  is  about  two  hundred 
and  seventy  miles  almost  directly  north  of  Philadel- 


272     AMEEICA,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 

phia.  In  a  depression  on  the  western  slope  of  the 
Catskill  range,  at  an  elevation  of  eighteen  hundred 
and  eighty-eight  feet  above  tidewater,  is  the  head  of 
the  Delaware,  Lake  Utsyanthia,  a  secluded  little  sheet 
of  the  purest  and  most  transparent  spring  water.  It 
is  also  called  Ote-se-on-teo,  meaning  the  "  beautiful 
spring,  cold  and  pure."  It  is  a  mirror  of  beauty  in 
a  wooded  wilderness,  its  surroundings  being  most 
wild  and  picturesque.  From  this  little  lakelet  flows 
out  the  Mohock,  winding  down  its  romantic  valley, 
and  receiving  many  brooks  and  rills,  passing  a  vil 
lage  or  two,  and  bubbling  along  for  forty  miles  to  De 
posit,  and  thence  onward  as  the  great  river  Delaware 
to  the  ocean.  Thus  Tennyson  sings  of  the  Brook : 

"I  chatter,  chatter,  as  I  flow 

To  join  the  brimming  river, 
For  man  may  come,  and  man  may  go, 
But  I  go  on  forever." 


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LIBRARY,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  DAVIS 

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,  J. 

America. 


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